The Trouble With Friends
by LadyCathy
Summary: The trouble with friends is that they do stupid, trusting things. Now Bakura owes his life to Atem and unless he finds the stolen Millennium Puzzle, Atem will take Bakura's punishment. Problem is, Bakura was never very good at the loyalty thing... AU.
1. Leviathan

**A/N: Okay, so first YGO fanfic I've cared to write (never thought I would, but it's strange how some things work out) so I'm not familiar with what is usually expected of a YGO fanfic. I just suddenly thought of a storyline/film that fit surprisingly well with the YGO cast, and lo and behold, an AU was born. Never thought I would do a non-canon pairing either, but again, life is strange sometimes...**

**And, with no more ado, let the story begin!**

**LadyCathy.**

**ooOoo **

Chapter 1: Leviathan

Glittering, snake-like eyes watched over a quiet mortal world.

Too quiet.

Much too quiet.

Attention shifted to a heavily-guarded convoy travelling through a bleak landscape; the only change in surroundings was the rise and fall of the dunes and the steep decline where a river dipped into a waterfall. Still, it was too quiet.

Glittering, snake-like eyes moved to a small group hiding on the shadow side of a dune.

A fanged smile slowly spread.

ooOoo

"Word from Jamil; they're coming."

"Thank you, Rishid." Crouching with the rise of the dune serving as cover, the man spared a smile. It was alert with the anticipation of the chase. "Are the others in place?"

"Yes. Everything's as you ordered. In a minute the caravan will be in utter chaos and they'll be herding the treasure away from the guards." His companion smiled. "Straight towards us. Assuming everything goes to plan."

"Of course it will go to plan. I thought of it." The man quietened down, now listening to the sound of the sand-blown landscape; the sound of hooves and wheels striking the ground just about audible. To one side of them, the river – swollen from a freak storm the day before – almost drowned out the sound. The man's appearance easily set him out from the others, what with his white hair; it looked as if there were no way he would melt into a crowd.

He picked up his head suddenly as the rattle of a cart grew loud. He glanced to the rest of his group, just to confirm that they had also heard it; by the looks of things, they had.

"It's here."

Only seconds passed before the reinforced carriage hurdled over the top of the dune and, horses in a wild frenzy, careened towards the river edge. They skittered into a stop before they hit the water, but the cart attached to them continued with its momentum and toppled onto its side, hitting the ground with a deafening crash. The horses were dragged down, but after scuffling eventually got loose and struggled to their feet, whereupon they fled the overturned cart.

"Perfect."

The man didn't approach the upset carriage just yet, preferring to stand back while his men swarmed towards it. One hand rested gently at the sword attached to his side. Something told him it wasn't going to be that easy.

Sure enough, guards seated upon horses quickly arrived on the scene, so intent on protecting the precious cargo that they barely spared the man a glance. That suited him fine. He watched his men tackle the newcomers, reassuring himself that they had it under control, and snuck around the side to approach the carriage. One side was half buried in the ground, while the back was damaged from the fall and the wood had been weakened. The thief brought out a small dagger and dug it into the damaged wood, carefully but efficiently carving open a hole.

A shadow rose up behind him, and instinctively he moved away and brought himself back to his feet.

"Bakura?"

The thief took several seconds to recognise the newcomer; in his line of work the only people with that amount of jewels and charms were the kind of people he thieved from. Still, even though years had passed since their last encounter it was difficult to mistake the individual before him. "Atem?" Mild surprise passed his features before it shifted into a more comfortable expression of contempt. "Or should I call you 'Prince' now?"

"None of that, Bakura."

"I see you remembered my name. I suppose I should be honoured that a prince deemed my name interesting enough to memorise," the other sneered.

Atem surveyed the thief standing between him and the carriage, one hand not-so-idly resting against his own blade. "What are you doing here, Bakura?"

"I'm a thief; what do you expect? Now, if you'll excuse me, _your highness_, I have some loot to liberate." Bakura turned to inspect the now-disintegrating wood, intent on reaching inside for the cargo, but a sword smoothly appearing between him stopped the action. He paused while the blade remained at his throat, and the prince moved round so he was closer to the overturned vehicle. "Are you going to kill me, Atem?"

"This is not the kind of cargo that should be stolen, friend."

A bitter smile curved round the thief's lips. "You call me friend, yet as far as I know, friends do not threaten one another with swords. And all cargo is meant to be stolen. All it requires is the right mind."

"If you had any idea what you're intent on stealing..."

Tired with the facade, Bakura knocked the sword away, at least so it wasn't in contact with his skin. "It's valuable, right? That makes it viable loot."

Atem's scowl deepened, but the blade wasn't raised to Bakura's throat again. However, it still remained between the thief and the carriage. "Not this time. This time it would be better if you called off your men and retreated."

"And when have you ever known me to retreat from anything?"

"I was hoping that in the last ten years I haven't heard from you, life might have knocked some sense into you," Atem retorted. "This cargo is powerful–"

"All that does is increase its price," Bakura replied coolly. His hand swiftly brought out his own sword to combat Atem's; the action gave him enough time to reach into the hole and bring out a golden box. "Huh, so this is what all the fuss is about? The box looks like it might fetch a pretty price too." He grinned mockingly at his opponent. "Your highness is too kind."

"Bakura!"

The thief knocked away Atem's sword, moving quickly round to apply a kick to the prince's knees and bringing him down to the ground. His grin widened as he surveyed the situation. "Hey, you win some, you lose some. And today it appears Ra favours me." He took a mocking bow, grinning wickedly at his opponent. "I'll send a note telling your highness how we spent the spoils."

There was a crash from behind; the unmistakable sound of something _large_ breaking out of the river. Both men turned to look for the source.

"Oh boy..."

There were tentacles, way too many tentacles rising out of the water. Large, slimy tentacles. A head accompanied the tentacles; all it seemed to be gaping jaws and rows of jagged teeth. And certainly too focused on them, for Bakura's liking.

"I suggest we slowly retreat," Atem cautiously offered. "Very carefully."

The thief took one slow step back, hoisting the precious cargo into a more secure hold. The creature's head swung round so that its small eyes were following him. The eyes followed in particular the pathway of the box.

"I don't like the way it's watching me..."

"Just carry on slowly retreating," Atem advised, stepping back himself. "Don't want to startle it."

"Startle it?" Bakura hoarsely repeated. "It's a fifty-foot monster... How could I possibly _startle_ it?" He kept his gaze steadily on the creature, almost certain that its gaze was focused entirely on the box in his hands. He considered passing the cargo to Atem, but dismissed that idea as that would involve letting the treasure out of his grasp.

The creature's appearance hadn't gone unnoticed by the others; Bakura could hear the beginnings of shock and fear being emitted by guard and thief alike, and then a young guard, fuelled by adrenaline and foolhardy bravery – or stupidity, Bakura idly thought – charged towards the creature, spear grasped in hand. The spear was flung... and bounced harmlessly off the thick skin.

Unfortunately, while it left no physical mark, the monster had still felt the impact. It erupted into action, the tentacles sweeping the ground and knocking off any guard or thief in its way.

"Run!"

Bakura skidded behind the fallen wagon, crouching behind it for cover. He glanced to one side to see the young prince join him. "Hey, find your own hiding place."

"We haven't got time for this, Bakura. Hand me the box."

"Finders keepers."

Atem growled under his breath and made a half-hearted movement to snatch the box away from the thief; Bakura moved it easily out of Atem's reach. "That thing is aiming for the Puzzle – whoever has it will become the prime target for that... _thing_. I can lead it away."

"Taking the treasure with you. I don't think so."

Atem glanced out to where his guards were attempting to fend off the monster, drawing it away from him, but suffering because of it. Irritated, he rose to his feet as he moved to join his men. He paused. "Alright, Bakura; run with that, if you must. But when we've dealt with this creature, we'll be back to fetch it. This doesn't end here."

The thief scowled as he watched Atem join the guards and lend them his aid. Barely seconds had passed before another thief took Atem's place, looking over his shoulder to see what had become of the prince. "How long has it been since you last saw him? Ten years?"

"I don't keep track, Marik," Bakura muttered. "He's just the same though. Still too full of his noble ideals."

Marik gave a half smile and looked over at the young prince again. "Are you going to help him?"

"He can handle himself fine. And if he wants to get himself killed taking on a fifty-foot monster, that's his own choice. How is everyone else?"

"They're out of harm's way. They're just waiting for you turn up, hopefully with the treasure."

"And with the treasure I'll return." Fetching a knife from his belt, he started to pick at the lock, to reassure himself that the box indeed held the treasure. Knowing Atem, he wouldn't put it past the prince to make a decoy. The lock clicked open and he swung the top open to reveal a dazzling golden pyramid, fitted with an engraving of an eye on one side.

Marik leant over to examine the contents. "Wow. Read about it. Heard about it. Never actually seen it. That's the Millennium Puzzle, isn't it?"

"Indeed." Bakura grinned at his companion. "Someone will pay a pretty price to get their hands on this."

"I thought only those with royal blood could use it?"

"Doesn't stop it being valuable. The Millennium Puzzle; fabled item of magical powers, presumed lost until discovered recently by our friend the prince... now in my hands." Bakura's grin widened. "Some days it's good to be a thief."

"I'd wait until we have that back at base before coming to that conclusion." Marik's words, as if prophetic, were followed by a crash as the overturned carriage was thrown aside. The two ducked to avoid being knocked away, but now their hiding place was ruined. "Run?"

"I guess so."

The two headed in different directions, automatically moving so the creature's attention would be split between them; Marik's direction was straight towards the dune, Bakura's was a more curving route that took him closer to the prince and guards. The Puzzle had been hastily stuffed back in the box and now the box rested under one arm. His other arm was free to wield his sword, hacking away at any tentacles that came too close. He glanced back once more, only to see that Atem had been disarmed at one point and was now in the process of being caught up in one slimy tentacle.

Unbidden, Bakura found himself slowing down. He made a mental order to his legs to carry him further away from the creature, but his legs weren't following the order.

"Dammit. And to think we haven't even seen each other in ten years." Disobeying every survival instinct that his life of thievery had ever installed in him, he made an ear-piercing whistle and held the precious cargo above his head. "Hey, fish-food! Lookie what I've got!"

Small eyes focused on the thief, and any attack on the rest of the group was instantly forgotten. Atem was dropped to the ground as the tentacles abruptly advanced towards Bakura. Bakura, however, had turned tail as soon as the words were out of his mouth, and was now fleeing for his life.

"Run. Run. Run faster," he chanted to himself, as if he could will his legs to move any quicker.

Something slimy ensnared his foot and seconds later he was being dragged upwards and was hanging from that one foot. The tentacle brought him to eye level with the creature. Bakura grinned nervously at his captor, blood slowly rushing to his head as the effects of being held upside-down began to make themselves known.

For several moments he focused on the ground swinging lazily above – below – his head, and it took a few more seconds before he registered that it was not the ground that was moving, but himself. At this point he returned eye contact with the beast.

"Well, I guess as first impressions go, this has got to be one of the worst." He grinned again at the creature, but his humour was not appreciated. Another tentacle from the animal wrung itself around the box, trying to pry it away from the thief. "Hey, hey, no! Let go!" Bakura kicked with his free leg at the limb, earning some momentary respite. "Steal your own treasure."

"Bakura!"

The thief looked down – it felt more like up to him – and spotted the young prince standing below. "Hi, Atem. How's it hanging?"

The prince didn't appreciate his humour either, preferring to scowl up at his old friend. "Drop the box!"

"It's not enough that I'm hanging upside down, caught by a fish... _thing_; now you also want to take my treasure? No-can-do, highness."

"Can you forget the bounty for a moment? I'm trying to save your life here!"

"By taking my hard-earned loot? I think I'm fine hanging here." Another tentacle attempted to snatch the box away from him, and again Bakura kicked it away. The creature had grown bored of fighting him, for the tentacle ensnaring his foot wrapped itself around his other ankle, stopping him from booting the next tentacle. Instead Bakura brought out a dagger – his sword had come loose when he was initially captured – and used it to fend off further attempts.

Suddenly both legs were freed and Bakura hit the ground; winded, but miraculously with no broken bones. Gasping for breath, he eased himself up to see that the reason for his abrupt release was a spear lodged in one of the creature's beady eyes.

Atem hoisted the thief to his feet; Bakura kept the box firmly in his grasp.

"Bakura, give me the Millennium Puzzle."

"Give me one good reason."

"Perhaps the giant fish monster before us would be a good enough reason?" Atem snapped. "You know the stories about the Puzzle; those with royal blood can wield its power."

"You don't know how to use it."

"It doesn't take much skill to blast something," the prince returned flatly. He still had one hand out, as if expecting Bakura to simply hand over the prize. "Please."

Bakura glared at his old friend, but brought out the Puzzle and dropped it into his hand. "But," he added, one hand still on the Puzzle, "I expect it back."

Atem laughed. "We can go back to fighting over it once the monster is defeated. I promise."

Bakura released the treasure, reassured by the promise. "Go fry fish-face then." He stepped aside, giving the prince a wide view on the creature before them. It had been struggling to deal with the spear, but at this point a stray tentacle twisted around the weapon and wrenched it out. The good eye turned to the prince and the thief, quickly identifying the source of its pain.

Atem was turning the Puzzle over in his hands, trying to get some reaction out of it.

"'It doesn't take much skill to blast something,'" Bakura quoted back mockingly. "Last time I listen to you. Hurry up and shoot the damn thing out of the water!"

"I'm trying!"

"_Now_, Atem..."

"I know!" The Puzzle glowed in the prince's hands, and a burst of light shot out of the engraved eye, hitting the creature in the chest. For a moment it convulsed with the attack, and then it collapsed; its body sunk back under the water and the tentacles that had been overland crumpled onto the ground. The ends of the tentacles twitched as the body began to be washed downstream, heading towards the waterfall; the tentacles were dragged along the ground as they followed the body.

Atem hadn't initially realised his success, but when it dawned on him he grinned at his friend. "See? That wasn't too bad."

"You could have done with _not_ leaving it 'til the last second. But I suppose you were always into the dramatics."

"Me? You were always the show-off."

"At least I accept that. Now, are you going to return the Puzzle or shall we start this fight again?" Bakura held one hand out, knowing that Atem wasn't about to give in that easily but asking all the same. Before either had a chance to add anything, Bakura felt the familiar clutch of something slimy twist around his ankle.

"Oh, sh–"

The convulsing tentacle tightened its grip and he was brutally dragged back and submerged in the river's fast flowing current. He strained against the spasm-filled tentacle, trying to pry it off, and hold his breath, and try to make it to the surface for air all at the same time.

Ahead in the murky depths, he could just about make out the outline of the monster's body; well, he did, and then it disappeared. Bakura's oxygen-starved brain tried to make sense of this. Monsters did not just _disappear_. Certainly not when their tentacle was still wrapped around a thief's foot. The tentacle had to be still attached to the beast.

It made perfect sense when he also hit the waterfall.

**ooOoo**

**A/N: R&R, please!**


	2. Peppy: God of Darkness and Chaos

**A/N: Just couldn't resist posting a chapter on Leap Day - it only comes once every four years, after all! Anyone proposed?**

**Anyway, hope people are interested/enjoying this story. Unfortunately I haven't got a clue because no one's been kind enough to leave a review. R&R, please? Reviews make me happy! And I suppose Peppy is my OC, if you can count a mythological character as an OC. **

**LadyCathy. x**

**ooOoo**

Chapter 2: Peppy: God of Darkness and Chaos

Returning to consciousness was by no means a certainty, but return to consciousness he did. All the same, Bakura was pretty sure the conscious world wasn't usually this _dark_.

He raised one hand to the area which he assumed to be just before his face, only to find that his eyes registered a grand total of zilch.

'_By the gods, I've gone blind._'

A wave of panic washed over him at the thought. He couldn't be blind. He needed his sight – a blind thief couldn't work; he'd do better being a blind beggar, at least that way he could get donations for sympathy. But a thief was what he was and he didn't want to change that.

He blinked – he felt the action, so that suggested that his eyes were still present, just not functioning. Unless his brain hadn't registered the loss of his eyes yet and still believed it could feel his eyes blinking – he'd seen that phenomenon before – people who had lost a limb would still be able to feel it even with the limb's absence.

To reassure himself, he moved his raised hand and cautiously probed his face. His fingers felt nothing out of place; he slowly recalled the panic to a more appropriate level; a level which would enable him to think straight at least. So sight was evidently ruled out as an option; he had other senses which had served him well. Touch, for instance. He lowered his hand to the floor, trying to establish what kind of surroundings he was in. His confusion was only intensified when he found he was resting on a smooth, tiled floor. Not the rough, outdoor ground he had been expecting to find.

Light abruptly burst into the surroundings, reassuring Bakura that he wasn't blind at least, but rather that the place had been dark. Still, he had to blink away the initial stars floating round his vision at the abrupt change in brightness, slowly making out the room to be a large, bright hall. At the far end was a golden structure, glittering in the light. Automatically drawn to the promise of something valuable, Bakura approached it slowly.

He stopped.

It was a set of scales. Large, golden scales; on one side a feather rested, on the other a steady beating heart. Bakura felt vaguely sick. He was familiar with this setting, and what it meant.

Being blind was one thing.

Being dead was another.

To make matters worse, a face loomed out of the shadow; all too large and all too real. A smile curved round the face's lips. "Welcome... to the afterlife..."

Bakura stumbled back, one hand instinctively reaching round to draw a weapon – any weapon – from his belt, but none were there. His clothes were normal – although they were dry, which he was a little surprised about – but his weapons were gone. He settled on baring his fists, bringing them between him and the face. "But I can't be dead," he hissed, more to himself than to anyone else. "I have things to do, places to go... things to steal..."

The face loomed for a few seconds more before dissolving away and with the action the room fell into darkness. Shadows sprung up, making the previously bright room into a dimly-lit, cavernous space; it had gained a more threatening air, but shadows were fine. Shadows Bakura could cope with.

Laughter rattled round the room and a body formed itself out of the misty shadows, drawing the shadows closer around it and solidifying.

"Mortals; so scared of death and anything beyond their limited little minds can wrap around. Always good for a laugh though. Their minds get messed around so easily." The form came into the light – or a less-dark patch, anyway – to reveal the owner of the voice was not human.

The torso was human – glittering green eyes, sandy blond hair – but where the legs should have been there was only a snake tail; emerald green in colour and writhing as it brought the individual closer to the thief. The eyes, while a recognisable green, were snake slits, lending an eerie, inhuman air to the face.

Bakura baulked at the creature's appearance; whatever he had been expecting, this had not been it. However, the creature's comment set off a dim hope. "So... where am I exactly?"

"Well, you're not in the Hall of Two Truths, if that's what you're wondering," the individual idly replied.

That gave Bakura some reassurance. If he wasn't in the Hall of Two Truths, then he _probably_ wasn't dead. The Hall of Two Truths was where his life would be judged if he were dead; the lack of aforementioned hall indicated that something else was going on. If it weren't for the half-snake creature standing before him then he would be tempted to call it all a hoax.

However, there _was_ a half-snake creature standing before him and right now it all felt much too real.

"That didn't answer my question. Where am I? And who are you?" He had almost asked _what_ the creature was, but a nagging thought suggested this wouldn't be respectful and therefore not wise. Since he had little knowledge about his situation, he would have to be polite – at least until he had the situation vaguely under his control.

"I am Apep, god of darkness and chaos."

"Right. Okay. And I'm here because...?"

"Because I'm wanting your help."

"And why exactly should I lend my aid to a god of darkness and chaos exactly?" Okay, scrap the politeness plan, Bakura noted; if this god dealt with darkness and chaos then politeness probably wouldn't make much difference. Anyway, he was still standing. That was always a good sign.

"Perhaps because right now you're in my territory and I could be very angry over the death of my leviathan."

"Your what? What, the fish-thing?" Bakura was beginning to get sidetracked as he watched the end of the creature's tail slide a yard away from his own feet. He had had enough experience with tentacles and suchlike to last him a lifetime. Assuming his lifetime would extend somewhere beyond this dark world.

"Yes, the fish-thing." Apep appeared to have noticed Bakura's inattention, because the tail moved away from him. Not far enough for Bakura's liking, but at least far enough to give him warning if it suddenly went for him. "And thanks to you, it's dead."

"Ah, the fish-thing. Yes, well, if you're going to let it run wild, you might at least put a collar on it or something. Or a leash. You know, just so people know it's actually _owned_ by someone. I'm sure if we had known it was owned by a god of darkness and disorder–"

"Chaos."

"Darkness and disorder has alliteration," Bakura offered. "Anyway, Peppy – may I call you Peppy, because Apep sounds too stiff – if you must know, it wasn't me who slew your precious leviathan. If memory serves correctly, I believe it was Prince Atem who was holding the Millennium Puzzle at the time. So I think you've got the wrong human. Now, if you could just drop me off back at my world..."

"I don't think I have the wrong human." Apep approached the thief, and again noticed Bakura's careful watching of the snake tail. Apep grinned – Bakura noted that the teeth were closer akin to a snake's jaw than a human's – and added, "Right, the tail. Humans seem to get pretty hung up with the whole snake thing." He clicked his fingers – thankfully human, although the nails were sharper than what would be expected – and the tail dissolved away. Shadows cloaked the individual and when the shadows lightened, Apep was still standing there, but as a human. He now wore an emerald green suit, the colour matching his still snake-like eyes. "Better?"

"Well, at least it brings you closer to eye level," Bakura muttered, since in his semi-snake form, Apep had been several feet taller than him. The height difference probably could have been increased if less of his tail had been on the floor too.

"I suppose that should reassure you," Apep replied. "Because you don't like feeling small, do you, Bakura? It makes you feel vulnerable, and that's something you can't allow yourself to be."

"What do you need my help for?" he muttered. He didn't like the turn the conversation had taken; his personal life and attitude wasn't something he readily discussed.

"Ah yes, the little job. Well, since I now lack a leviathan, you can take over from the task it was trying to achieve."

"The Puzzle."

"Yes, the Puzzle. Specifically, the Millennium Puzzle." Apep moved beside the thief and placed one arm around the human in what might have been a companionable action; however, Bakura was doing his best not to instinctively throw off the god's hold. "You fetch the Puzzle for me, bring it back, I don't punish you for killing my pet; everyone's happy."

"I didn't kill your fish-thing."

"Pedantics," Apep said, waving the reminder away.

"Well, thanks, but no thanks. I had my own agenda for that Puzzle."

"Oh, selling it on the black market; how unoriginal. Steal the Puzzle for yourself, and the bounty will tide you over nicely for a while yet. Bring me the Puzzle, and I'll grant you whatever wish you want."

Bakura thought this over. "And how do I know you're telling the truth?"

"A god's word is his honour."

"It's easy to make a promise; almost as easy as breaking a promise."

Apep smiled at the thief; Bakura would rather not have been reminded of the fangs Apep had instead of teeth. "A practical mind, I see. Alright." Apep released Bakura's shoulders and moved away, one hand moving to a pocket. Out of the pocket he produced a pendant; it was too large to fit in the pocket, so magic must have been involved. Apep turned it over to Bakura, placing the item in the light. "This is valuable, yes; it's solid gold, but if placed into my shrine, it will bring you here. Well, it will reveal a way to get to my kingdom."

Bakura hesitated, but the call of gold was almost tangible. He brought his fingers round one side of it and brought it closer for inspection. It was rounded, with a triangle around an engraved eye in the middle, and five prongs hanging from the bottom half.

"And how do you know I will keep to my half of the bargain?"

Apep smiled, giving Bakura another view of his fanged jaw. "Call it a gut instinct. But I have kept you. It is time for you to return to your world. Don't forget our little agreement."

Bakura felt an abrupt heaviness in his chest; a beating action as if someone was trying to force his heart to work. He gasped, and at blinking his surroundings began to melt away. The sudden force arrived again, at a quicker pace than before. Again, he gasped and the dark hall had completely faded from his vision. The force bearing down on his chest was clearer than before; now he could make out the feel of a fist beating out a rhythm at his heart.

Blinking once more, a blue sky swam into sight. He could hear voices around him; familiar voices, voices from his gang. He could also feel the fact that he was wet from head to foot and finally his mind registered that, if he was presumed half-drowned, they might be trying to resuscitate him.

As a hand came to cover his nose, Bakura sat up abruptly, instinctively delivering a well-thrown punch at the individual who had been attempting to resuscitate him.

"There are alternative ways to thank a person, you know," Marik commented dryly from the side. He didn't lend a hand to help his comrade, now bruised from the punch. The injured man was lucky Bakura's blow hadn't done worse damage, really.

"I was managing fine before you lot decided to intervene."

"What, dying? Excuse us if we don't want to lose our leader just yet."

Bakura gruffly got to his feet, taking it slowly after a moment's notice, feeling his limbs were still shaky after the earlier incident and not wishing to push himself too hard. "It would be too much to hope for that you had stolen the Puzzle back from the prince, right?" he asked flatly. As if it would be that easy.

"To be fair, we were more worried that our leader had just kicked the bucket," a young boy – Jamil – piqued up. At thirteen, the boy was the youngest there, although the most agile. As the youngest though, he was often left with keeping an eye on the horses. "So what now?"

"Well, it isn't as if we can't make an educated guess where the Puzzle is going. If we hurry now, we could make it to the city by tomorrow evening. What say you? Everyone up for a little visit to the capital?" He grinned when his suggestion was met by agreement. "Right, let's go."

It was only about an hour into their travelling – when Bakura had dried off and the Apep meeting was feeling more like a dream than a reality – that the thief became aware of something around his neck. Moving one hand to his neck, he found a cord; by pulling it upwards, he found the ring to be attached to it.

He dropped the cord, hiding the ring from sight and tried not to visibly react.

'_I guess that rules out the dream/delusion theory._'

But that meant it had happened.

That meant he really had struck an agreement with the god of darkness and chaos.

The beginnings of panic threatened to settle in, but Bakura banished it before it could get a solid grounding. He had got out of tight situations and promises before. True, he was dealing with a god, but they could probably be as stupid as the human race at times. He hadn't met a situation he couldn't talk, run or fight his way out yet, and he wasn't about to break that streak.

"Is everything okay?" Rishid brought his horse to the same pace as Bakura's and looked over at the thief king worriedly. Rishid was always one to worry, Bakura noted idly. A good joint second-in-command with Marik, but a worrier all the same. "You've been quiet ever since we fished you out from the river."

"Don't mention fish."

Rishid didn't answer immediately, instead preferring to wait for Bakura to add his own comment. That was another thing Rishid was good at; waiting. Bakura, however, wasn't the patient type.

"Rishid, you know of Apep, right?"

The other man tilted his head to one side, evidently curious as to the dramatic jump in topic. "God of darkness and chaos? I've heard of him. Why do you ask?"

"... No particular reason."

"I hope you won't think I'm prying, but if this some part of a plan of yours..."

"Not exactly." Bakura paused, wondering whether he was going to try to be subtle about breaching his next question. He decided that he didn't have the patience for subtleness today. "Do you know where his shrine is?"

"No. Excuse me for asking, but what has stemmed this sudden interest? It's a little off the beaten track, even for you."

"Even for me?"

Rishid didn't back down from Bakura's replying response and look. "You know what I mean."

"Well, I wouldn't worry if I were you. I'm about to do anything madder than normal."

Rishid grunted to himself. "For some reason, that's _not_ the reassurance I was hoping for."


	3. Smiling Facade

**A/N: A big, grateful thank you to my first reviewers for this story! You beautiful, beautiful people, **_**Aqua girl 007 **_**and **_**YamiBakura1988**_**!**

**And just to confirm, this story has a Mana/Thief Bakura pairing. Is that called mischiefshipping?**

**Anyway, many thanks,**

**LadyCathy. x**

**ooOoo**

Chapter 3: Smiling Facade

"Princess Mana, would you please stay still?" Aya, the princess's elderly maid, tutted under her breath as she attempted to get the princess's naturally wild hair into an elaborate braid. "You're making it very difficult for me to do your hair."

Mana huffed to herself, but contented herself to still her nervous movement. She couldn't stop herself from picking at her nails though.

Aya smacked Mana's hands. "Stop that. You'll ruin your nails."

"I don't see what this is going to achieve–"

"You're going to look beautiful for the prince tonight–"

"It's not like this marriage was arranged on my looks though," Mana protested. She twisted in her chair to look at her maid. "It's all about connections. Even Father said so. Marrying for the good of the kingdom." Her last words were accompanied by a softening of voice and the nervous twirling of one stray strand of dark brown hair. Aya pried the hair loose and attempted to fit it back in to the braid.

"That may be so, but good first impressions are always important. After all, you'll be spending the rest of your life with this man."

"I know, I know." Mana settled back into her chair, staring gloomily at her equally-gloomy reflection. "I can't help thinking that this is all a big farce though."

Aya paused in her braiding and glanced down at the young woman. Aya had been Mana's nurse, tutor and, after all the years, a friend. She had learnt to read the young princess's moods with natural ease. She placed one hand on Mana's shoulder, wishing for her support to be felt. "Why so?" she asked quietly.

Mana locked eyes with Aya's reflection. She tugged lightly at the start of the braid. "This... this isn't me. All I'm doing is giving the impression that I can look pretty and be dignified. And soon my husband-to-be is going to realise that. So why pretend otherwise?"

"Perhaps everyone's just doing their best for you. Anyway," Aya continued, picking up where she had left off with the braid, "I've heard Prince Atem is a good man. He came back from his travels with the Millennium Puzzle only yesterday."

"And in celebration, they've moved the engagement party forwards. Like I don't know that," Mana mumbled rebelliously.

"He'll make a good husband, your highness," Aya assured. "There are worse matches."

"I know, I know," Mana repeated. Her eyes drifted to the open window, where the sand dunes could be seen to stretch out, like a golden sea caught in a precious moment. Her eyes glazed over at the sight of the open space; of the freedom it represented. In a week she would be married to a prince she would first meet this evening's celebrations. She could only hope to Ra that the match would be well-made. "All the same, I can't help feeling it would be a better match if I had made the choice," she murmured softly.

ooOoo

Across the palace, another young royal was quietly stressing over the evening ahead. Although he wasn't pacing; he had decided to rest his arms against the balcony railing to prevent himself from indulging in the anxious action.

A heavy hand came to rest on his shoulder, momentarily jolting him from his thoughts. "Come, come; a prince shouldn't look so gloomy just before his engagement party. Smile. Or, if you cannot manage that, look regally content." King Ahknemkhanen smiled down at his son, although there was a sad kind of glimmer in his eyes.

Atem picked up his head and attempted a half-hearted smile. "I can't help it, Father. I have never met this girl before, fiancée or not." He looked back out across the city, a weary tiredness resting in his bones. The last couple of days had given no time for respite or pause and it was beginning to take its toll. "What if she and I don't get along?"

"Princess Mana appears to be a beautiful, well brought-up, young woman..."

"And a stranger," Atem reminded his father. "Don't forget that. A complete and utter stranger."

"You'll get time to know her."

"With the knowledge that we're engaged for the good of our two kingdoms." The young prince sighed, but he couldn't quite bring himself to face his father. "It won't quite be the same as meeting someone under less strained circumstances... Marrying someone for love rather than convenience. Even a courting period would have been welcomed."

"The wedding has been arranged – the joining of our two kingdoms has been something everyone has been hoping for..."

"I'm aware of that. I know it's for the best. One can't help wishing for things to be different though..." Finally Atem turned to his father, looking lost and hesitant for several moments. "Father... what if we don't like each other?"

"You will," King Ahknemkhanen said firmly.

Atem half smiled. "Is that optimism talking or is that an order?"

"I think it's hope." His father's expression sobered, taking on a more serious air. "Atem, your mother and I were brought together by an arranged marriage and that turned out fine. We were very happy together." He smiled gently back at his son. "Just be yourself, Atem. No one can ask anything more."

"I... It's just..." Atem sighed. "Thank you."

The king nodded. A polite cough at the door informed them that a servant had arrived to tell them the celebration was starting soon. The king looked to his son, the crown prince, and started to head down.

"Remember, Atem; smile. Who knows? It may be love at first sight."

Atem smiled wanly to himself. He wasn't that gullible.

ooOoo

'_Take it slowly... Make it graceful... Just take one step at a time... Just one step at a time..._' Internally Mana recited the many lessons she had been forced into learning; specifically the ones concerning grace. They hadn't done much, as proven at the slight kerfuffle when her foot briefly caught the hem of her gown.

Apparently manners were well bred into the nobility, because no one made any comment. She could almost have believed that her mistake had gone unnoticed.

Almost.

She brought herself before the prince and king, smiling weakly as she performed an unpolished curtsy. She was already getting sick of all the elaborate, impractical outfits she had to wear for public occasions; this was the second one since her arrival to the kingdom. She seriously hoped she would not be expected to dress so ornately when she was married, she could barely stand the few hours for the celebration.

"Ah, Your highness; a pleasure to finally be able to introduce you to my son. This is Atem."

Mana's smile remained pleasantly fixed upon her face. Of course she knew the prince's name; she had only heard it several hundred times since the arrangement was made. _Forgetting_ his name would have taken a minor miracle – amnesia, maybe.

Already she could hear one of her many tutor's voice lecturing her on manners, especially when presenting oneself to another royal. Unfortunately, Mana's parents had seen fit to hire several tutors for her education, instead of just allowing Aya to teach Mana the basics. There had been a few fights along the way with various tutors in her time.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance," the princess replied sweetly, trying to bring some authenticity to her smile. "I hope we will be able to get to know one another better." '_Hopefully before the wedding. I'd like to know something about the guy I say 'I do' to...'_

The prince returned her smile. "Likewise."

There was something in his expression which suggested he was thinking along the same lines, and Mana didn't feel so isolated anymore. In her dissent in relation to the arranged wedding, she had almost forgotten that her fiancé would be sitting in exactly the same position as her.

She took another look at her husband-to-be, her smile spreading cautiously to her eyes. The man was only a year or so older than her – that in itself was a relief. She had known a few girls in arranged marriages to be bound to a man many years their senior – and, on top of that, he looked mildly nervous too. That left her in a position of slight reassurance; at least both were on a level playing ground here.

Again, Mana could hear one of her tutor's already tutting at the 'disgraceful' lapse in conversation that the young princess had let dominate their meeting. Bringing her mind back to the situation before her, she started the conversation up again. "So I heard you came back with the Millennium Puzzle. There must be a story behind that."

She had been hoping this subject would be an easy sort of small talk, and evidently Prince Atem was grateful for it, for he laughed. "Many, many stories behind it. I guess you would like to hear some?"

That would probably pass some time. "Yeah, I guess so."

ooOoo

An hour or so later and Mana was reminded of the more mind-numbing part of being a royal. There was only so much time that Atem could impart tales of his ventures before he would be considered rudely ignoring his other guests. Now the young princess stood by his side while they were both submitted to enduring listening to the monotonous rambling of an elderly noble accompanied by a simpering wife.

Mana's eyes had flitted to the open window several minutes ago, her mind once again transporting her beyond the peacock surroundings of the glittering hall where the celebration was being held, watching a flock of birds sweep across the dusky sky.

She was brought down to earth by a subtle elbowing from her companion.

"I'm sure her highness is looking forward to becoming familiar with the city. Aren't you?" Atem addressed his query politely to his fiancée, but his eyes indicated he was very aware of her inattention. To Mana's relief – and surprise – he didn't look like he was condemning her, but rather that he was mildly amused at her lack of concentration.

She also realised he was saving her from a very embarrassing situation. Blinking and forcing the pretence of interest, she turned back to the elderly noble. "Indeed. This place is so beautiful, yet I've only really seen round the palace." Hardly even that, actually. But she supposed that wouldn't be the best comment to add.

"And now I must steal the lovely princess away from your company," Atem smoothly supplied, smiling levelly at the couple before him. "It looks like she could do with a breath of fresh air before all the new faces become too much for her. If you'll excuse us..." With the same smoothness, he escorted Mana away from the elderly pair and headed in the general direction of a balcony. Mana could hear the couple they were leaving murmuring general assent of already how protective the young prince was of his bride.

She, however, was only grateful that she had been saved from enduring any more conversation. "Thanks for that," she muttered. Now she began to feel guilty for so easily tuning out when she was expected to make a good impression. Instead she had needed Atem to cover for her.

"You're welcome. Listening to the nobility is an art that takes time and, above all, patience." The young prince grinned at the brunette. "_Lots_ of patience."

Mana blushed, trying to resist a smile but failing all the same. "Sorry. I shouldn't have let myself drift off–"

"I think we are all guilty of that particular offence at one point or another. Out of curiosity," he added, regarding the princess with interest, "what was on your mind to preoccupy you so?"

"Oh, I wasn't exactly thinking..." Then, perhaps realising that this wasn't a tactical answer since he had just covered for her, sheepishly added, "Well, I was watching the sky outside actually. Just... watching the birds." Her blush intensified a few shades, and with it came a nervous smile. "When I was younger, I used to wonder what it'd be like to have wings. I suppose everyone wonders once in a while. Of course," she noted, her voice changing to a flatter, more cynical note, "daydreaming isn't exactly a respectable pastime for a princess, according to my tutors."

"What would tutors know?" Atem asked. Mana looked to his face, surprised at the teasing, conspiring tune in his voice. "After all, you're the princess, not them. Personal experience on your part would surely lend more weight to the matter on what a princess does and does not do."

Mana decided that Aya had been right. No, perhaps she hadn't made the choice and perhaps she didn't love him right now. But there were worse matches made and Atem even had a sense of humour. She supposed she should thank her lucky stars for the few mercies she was blessed with.

A commotion across the room broke her contemplations; both the young royals stepped away from the balcony to see the guards swarming through the doors on the far side of the room. Mana could see they were hauling a young man inside, stirring mutterings between the nobility.

Atem groaned to himself. "_Now_ what has Bakura done?"


	4. So Not To Plan

**A/N: Well, I recently discovered that another writer (BlackRoseDragonCK) has already done a _Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas _take on YGO (for those who weren't aware, that was the main driving inspiration for this story) so I was a little deflated by that. Great minds think alike though! Anyway, I'm just putting a note here that I have _not read the story_, so any similarites are only a result of the same inspiration and chance. It looks like the story has a different pairing anyway, judging by the summary, but I still hope to take this story in a different direction and somewhat alter it to the film. We'll just have to see how that goes, I guess.**

**On another note, just to clear up any confusion that may or may not creep up, I have only ever watched the English Subbed version of Yu-Gi-Oh! So names and general understanding of the series stems almost entirely from that translation. (Being in the UK, it's a little difficult to find an English Dubbed version online...)**

**Many thanks for reading,**

**LadyCathy. x**

**ooOoo**

Chapter 4: So Not To Plan

Bakura hadn't planned for any of it to happen.

Well, that wasn't strictly true. He had planned on stealing the Millennium Puzzle.

He hadn't, however, planned on getting caught. Neither had he planned on handing over the Puzzle to Apep when the time came. As a general rule, he found it best to stick to his own agenda; other people often had ulterior motives and that required a whole load of unnecessary and rather messy manipulation on his part. He reasoned that since the 'other person' in his agreement was a god, it would only mean extra caution required.

And he had never been too happy with caution.

The plan – going back to before his capture – had been simple. He liked simple plots; they left room for improvisation. Usually he found that the more people involved in the plan, the more complex it was required to be to ensure that everyone knew exactly what their part was. So only a few of his men had helped, and he had made it perfectly clear that _he_ was the one who was going to enter the palace and steal the Puzzle itself.

Not everyone was happy with that plan, but they weren't the thief king, so Bakura's plan was the plan that was going ahead.

He had left Marik and Rishid with the task of providing a distraction – he had worked alongside the two men for long enough to leave the details to their own liking, confident that they would give him as wide a window as possible. He hadn't even needed to bribe anyone to discover the location of the Puzzle; apparently it was common knowledge that the treasure was in the king's own room and that the king would present the relic before the kingdom later during the celebration.

A few other interesting titbits had come to light with their discrete questioning – like the fact that the celebration this evening was also to commemorate the prince's engagement to a young princess, and that it was an arranged marriage at that. But they had quickly gained all the information Bakura deemed necessary for their raid tonight and left the gossipmongers to their own devices.

Even getting into the king's room had been simple. Marik and Rishid had done their job well (Bakura hadn't asked what they had planned, but he gained the impression it had something to do with a brawl outside the palace gates... and smoke. Definitely smoke, he noted as he watched the murky tendrils of smoke spiral slowly from that direction) and so there had been few, if any, guards that he had needed to avoid.

In fact, it was only as he unlocked the door – the action coming with many years of practice – and slipped inside the king's chambers that the plan began to disintegrate. There hadn't been any trouble finding the Puzzle (Bakura had immediately headed over to the nearest locked chest and started checking each locked area) but, on finally finding the correct chest he had become aware of another presence in the room.

He had risen to his feet quickly, scooping up the Puzzle from its now-unlocked container, and turned to face the newcomer. His other hand moved to his side, his fingers curling around the handle of a blade and bringing it instinctively before him.

The room was still half hidden by shadows, since Bakura hadn't risked lighting any form of torch to bring unwanted attention to the room, preferring to rely on the moon's light instead. At this point, however, he began to wish he had some light to hand; the shadows at the far side of the room made it nigh impossible to make out the form of the other intruder.

"I know you're there. Come out."

A chuckling sound was emitted from the shadows; Bakura wasn't one to admit it, but the sound set his nerves on edge. It didn't sound... quite _human_. There had been an undertone of another sound beneath the laughter – something akin to hissing, he decided.

"Come, come, Bakura. Is that anyway to talk to a friend?"

The newcomer didn't exit the shadows, but they didn't have to. Bakura recognised the voice. Still, the thief didn't lower his weapon. "Peppy, what a... _surprise_. I rather gained the impression that I would be doing this job alone."

"What? And let you steal off with my prize?"

Bakura weighed the Puzzle up in one hand, his fingers entwining around the cord that had been recently strung around it. "What? Me? Steal off with someone else's prize? What do you take me for – a thief?" He grinned, but his grip had tightened around the sword's handle. Circumstances like this were the reason he left room for improvisation, but, all the same, he hadn't accounted for bumping into a god on this particular mission.

It wasn't a situation he really wanted to fall into again.

Apep's strange, eerie laugh echoed from the shadows, and now Bakura was sure his paranoia was getting the better of him because he could have sworn that the shadows were visibly growing, spreading out closer to where he stood. Usually he didn't mind shadows; they were a source of cover, something he had lived half his life in, yet these shadows didn't set his heart at rest.

"Oh, Bakura, I'm afraid I know your nature too well. Gold's call is too strong for you to simply give it away to another person, even to a god."

"If that is so, then why give me this task at all?" Bakura demanded. "Why not simply steal it away without recruiting me?"

"That wouldn't have been any fun. It's much more entertaining to watch mortals dance for us."

"Right, well, I've danced for you, perhaps now we can go our separate ways." The thief's hand curled around the prized relic; Apep was right, gold had a strong call for him, yet he valued his own life over gold any day. Well, almost. And at this point, as he stood in the king's chambers with the shadows approaching, facing a god who he couldn't see, the instinct to survive was stronger than the desire for gold.

He tossed the Puzzle into the shadows. By the lack of a clunk, he assumed Apep had caught it. He saluted offhandedly in the general direction of the shadows.

"Right, it's been a pleasure making your acquaintance, but I'm a busy thief." He started in the direction of the window – he knew that he could easily get to the gardens that way and effortlessly make his way out of the palace grounds – when a familiar emerald-green tail blocked his path.

"It's not quite that simple..."

"Hey, you've got the Puzzle, I'm still alive... Everyone's happy, right?" Bakura tried to make his way round the tail, but it easily blocked his escape. He paused, glaring hatefully at the scaled tail. "You know, I thought you said something about a god's word being his honour..."

"The agreement was that you would steal the Puzzle and bring it to me, and you've broken it, therefore the agreement is invalid..."

"That's a little harsh, surely? You haven't given me a chance to steal the Puzzle, let alone bring it to you... or your realm or whatever the initial agreement was..."

Finally Apep moved into the light, once again in his semi-snake form. Glittering green eyes coolly watched the thief before him. "I don't need to give you a chance; I know you had no intention of bringing it to me."

"Then you set up an agreement with me, knowing I would break it... _Why_?"

Apep's fangs came into sight at the god's predatory grin. "For the entertainment."

"Have you ever thought of taking up a hobby? Say, I don't know, pottery or something? I hear it's a good way of tackling boredom." Internally, Bakura was wondering whether sticking his sword into the tail before him would do any good. It usually had some effect, anyway.

"You should keep an eye on that tongue of yours, Bakura. It's going to get you into all sorts of trouble. So is taking a pot shot with that pathetic blade of yours," Apep calmly added, eyeing the sword gripped in Bakura's hand. "So perhaps you should put it away before I decide to do something about it."

In a surly manner, Bakura returned his weapon to its sheath. The situation didn't look like it was getting any better any time soon and it certainly wasn't wearing well on his temperament. "Right, sword away. Happy now?"

"Nearly."

The tail moved fast – faster than Bakura had seen it move before, and faster than he would have liked, and certainly too fast for him to avoid. It whipped into his midsection with a heavy blow and sent him flying across the room. He felt his back hit something hard and solid – a cupboard or wardrobe, by the sound of things. He sunk down to the ground, seeing stars float before his vision.

Alarm bells in the back of his mind were alerting him that he had hit the furniture with a rather solid – and, above all, _loud_ – whack, and that it almost certainly didn't go unnoticed. If he didn't want to get caught sneaking around in the king's personal chambers, he would have to make his getaway soon.

He pushed himself to his feet, drawing out the blade that he had sheathed only seconds before and staggered across the room. He quickly discovered that the blow had left his head dizzy, for walking even in a straight line towards the window proved an arduous task. A glimmer of green flashed in the corner of his eye and he instinctively brought his sword in that general direction. To his satisfaction, he heard his blade coming into contact with something.

It took a few more precious seconds for that relief to give way and for his eyes to focus on the thing his sword had hit, which was Apep's snake tail. To be precise, it had only hit the scaly surface, making little or no damage to the tail itself.

Apparently, god's tails were made of hardier stuff than your average snake.

Apep leered over the thief, more of his fanged teeth coming into view. "Is that your best shot? How pitiful."

The tail flexed away from the sword and wrapped itself around the man's torso, picking him off the ground and flinging him away like a rag doll. Bakura hit a cabinet shelf this time. The noise this time was unmistakable; the contents fell away from their display positions and formed a cacophony of noise, hitting one another, hitting the sides, hitting the floor.

As he struggled to rise to his feet, the door opened and half a dozen guards streamed in. By the opened chests, damaged furniture and presence of an intruder, it wouldn't be difficult to work out that something fishy was going on.

Bakura glanced hatefully to where Apep had stood only moments before, only to find that the god had vanished, taking his creeping shadows with him. He glowered, but didn't have the strength to fend off the guards. His head was still spinning and he could barely make out a coherent understanding of the guards' discussion above his head. He could just about distinguish the fact that they had already established the missing Millennium Puzzle.

Unfortunately, he could make an educated guess on who the blame would fall upon.

'_Damn the gods_.'

ooOoo

"Your majesty, we found this man intruding into your private quarters." Bakura felt himself forced into a kneeling position before the king, one hand gripping each shoulder to ensure he wouldn't try to make an escape. Bakura idly noted to himself that they needn't have worried; while his mind had regained working order after the beat-up, his physical side was still slow to respond to his mental commands. Even if he had managed to throw off his captors, he would barely have been able to make it to the door without stumbling.

"The Millennium Puzzle has gone missing. We believe he is responsible for its absence."

"For the last time, I didn't take your ruddy Puzzle," Bakura growled. Alright, so not strictly true, but it wasn't in his possession right now. For his comment, he received a rough smack on the ear and a curt order to remain quiet before his king, both from the guard to his side.

"Let him speak."

Bakura picked up his head, grateful to hear a familiar voice in the unfamiliar surroundings. "Hiya, Atem. Guess you didn't expect to see me again so soon." He grinned at the prince, glancing to the young woman standing awkwardly to his side. "And I suppose this is the soon-to-be Mrs Atem. Evening, sweetheart."

He received another box around the ears and a horrified order to be respectful to his betters from the guard.

"Bakura, what were you doing in my father's quarters?" Atem asked slowly. He looked a little bothered by Bakura's aloof greeting to his fiancée, but perhaps felt it wasn't the most pressing need right now. "And, if you haven't got it, where is the Millennium Puzzle?"

"Well, to be precise, the Puzzle is in the hands of Apep."

There was a scattering bout of scandalised mutterings as the nobility whispered about the cheek of the lower classes, pretending to bring gods into these matters. The guard wasn't impressed, and neither was the king, by the look of things. And neither were the priests, if their hushed mutterings were any indication.

Bakura quickly labelled this situation as 'bad'.

"I would tell you to ask him, but it would appear he's scarpered. Anyway, to cut a long story short," Bakura began, already trying to incorporate a half-truth to present himself in a semi-decent light, "I had reason to believe that Apep was planning on stealing the Puzzle tonight, so I went to stop him. Unfortunately, gods don't take kindly to having a mortal stand in their way." Subconsciously, he rubbed the back of his head; already a bruise was beginning to swell.

"This is preposterous!" One of the priests had decided to step forward – a surprisingly young man, with dark hair and sharp eyes and whom Bakura immediately decided he didn't like. "Does he honestly expect us to believe this... this _fantasy_?"

"Since I lack the Millennium Puzzle, I was hoping that would speak for itself," Bakura snapped back coldly.

"He could have thrown it to an accomplice outside the window."

The priest wasn't talking to him, but rather _about_ him. Bakura had to bite his tongue to prevent a rude response slipping out. His ears weren't responding well to the periodic blows from the guard and his head was threatening to start ringing again. In fact, his head was ringing already; his attention slipped away for several precious seconds and he only turned in to hear the verdict.

"Then the overall consensus is that this man is guilty of theft and shall face punishment for his crime."

"Wait, what?" Bakura struggled to his feet, only to be forced back to a respectful kneeling position by the guards and his own lingering weakness. "But I didn't do it! I don't have your damn Puzzle!"

"This is a very serious crime–"

"Wait, Father."

King Ahknemkhanen paused in his judgment, glancing curiously to his son. "Atem, this man has been found–"

"I know. But what if he's telling the truth?" A few of the priests – and some of the nobility – spluttered their disbelief, but quietened down at Atem's expression. "What if Apep really does have possession of the Millennium Puzzle? Are we going to punish someone for attempting to help?" Atem turned to the captured thief, his eyes measuring up Bakura's expression. "Bakura, would you be able to find Apep?"

Uncertain where the topic was going, Bakura's instincts told him to agree. "Yes. He gave me a few clues on how to find him."

"Then I propose an agreement. Give Bakura time to find Apep and reclaim the Millennium Puzzle, to prove his innocence."

Even his father found fault with that suggestion. "Atem, we would have no evidence that he would return. What's to stop him from just abandoning the project immediately?"

"And someone needs to be held accountable for this crime," the priest added.

Atem looked back to Bakura and the two held the other's gaze. Bakura had a nagging feeling that Atem was going to be his usual noble, stupid self, just like he had always been. Atem's next comment only confirmed his suspicions.

"Alright. I'll take his place."

'_Yep, stupid_.'


	5. All kinds of Stupidity

**A/N: Heh, sorry for the lapse in updating. Life tends to happen when you least expect it.**

**Big thanks to all three (happy grin) of my reviewers: _Aqua Girl 007_, _YamiBakura1988_ and _Sailor Ra_. May writer's block never darken your door!**

**LadyCathy. x**

**ooOoo**

Chapter 5: All kinds of Stupidity

Uproar broke out immediately; Atem had to shout to make himself heard. "I'll take his place," he repeated, and eventually the racket settled down into a whispered muttering. "We give Bakura a period to find and return the stolen Millennium Puzzle and if he doesn't return within a set period then I'll take his punishment." Atem looked to the stunned, and mildly disbelieving, Bakura. The prince smiled at the thief. "Don't let me down, friend."

ooOoo

"Of all the stupid... reckless... _damn noble_ things he had to go and do...!"

Bakura stormed into the back room of the inn – the agreed meeting place for the thieves after the raid on the palace – letting the door slam shut behind him. For a price, most inns would hire out their back room, no questions asked. A blessing he was already grateful for; with his rather unique looks, the rumours from the palace concerning his involvement in the missing Millennium Puzzle had followed him all the way back.

The other thieves looked up, surprised at their leader's rather vocal entrance. And, as he could have guessed, the gossip had arrived before him. They already had a half-baked idea of the events that had taken place back at the palace.

Marik was one of the few ones who didn't look up at Bakura's entrance. He kept his eyes duly trained on the board of the game he was currently immersed in with Rishid. "Perhaps next time you won't go alone," he commented lightly.

"What was that?"

Marik finally met Bakura's gaze, although his was more level-headed than his leader's. "I said perhaps next time you decide to do a raid by yourself, especially one this dangerous, you'll ask for help."

"No thanks," Bakura growled.

"There's no shame in asking for help."

"There are some jobs that I just prefer to do alone."

"Did you get it then? The Puzzle," Marik added for clarification. When Bakura didn't immediately snap back a response, Marik put in, "Nah, I didn't think so. Sometimes I think you try to be too independent, even for a thief–"

At that point, Bakura deemed it acceptable to upset the board, sending the wooden pieces flying onto the floor. Overreaction, very probably, but today – no, the past few days – hadn't been very good. "Now is not the time to lecture me," he growled and walked away, ignoring the many stares from the rest.

"You shouldn't take it out on him." Barely thirty seconds had passed, and already Rishid had decided to wander over to the sulking thief.

"Great, and now you're having a go at me..."

Rishid shook his head, re-realising just how childish Bakura could be at times. "You know that isn't true. Now, why don't you tell me what really happened at the palace?" A ghost of a smile tugged at the corners of Rishid's lips. "You wouldn't believe half the rumours that are flying around."

"Do they include me being accused of stealing the Millennium Puzzle?"

Rishid nodded. "And apparently you blamed Apep for it. Tell me that isn't true."

"It's true."

Rishid sighed under his breath, passively observing the rest of the thieves relaxing in the back room. It was more like a small hall, really, with various tables (one now with an upturned board game atop it) and chairs situated around the room. Someone had ordered a few drinks a while back by the look of things, for there was a gradually growing pile of dirty bottles and glasses.

"Ra, out of all the excuses you could have come up with, why use that one, Bakura?"

"Perhaps because it's true."

Rishid met Bakura's gaze calmly. "You may have fooled the gossipmongers, but I've seen you lie before, Bakura. That's why I want you to tell me what happened. Because I know you could have come up with a more decent excuse than that."

"Look, I was a little disorientated, alright?" Again, he subconsciously rubbed at the back of his head. Yep, a bruise was definitely swelling. "Apep decided it'd be fun to smash up the room, with me as the hammerhead."

"I am never letting you drink before another raid ever again. Not if it makes you spout rubbish about some god framing you for a crime that you were planning on committing anyway."

"I was _not_ drunk!"

The room quietened down for a moment at Bakura's outburst and then, just as quickly, lulled back to the usual noise threshold. Rishid raised one eyebrow at his friend, but didn't pursue the subject further. Bakura, however, wasn't willing to let it drop just yet.

"Look, I really met Apep, and I'll prove it." Bakura tugged at the cord that had been rubbing at his neck, and brought the golden ring into the light. Instinctively he angled his back to the majority of the thieves, keeping the sight of gold hidden from the others.

"Well, it's an impressive piece of jewellery, I'll admit, but..."

"Apep gave it to me," Bakura persisted irritably. "As a way to return to his realm, if I place this on his shrine."

"That's fine, but where is Apep's shrine exactly? Last time I checked, it wasn't marked as your average tourist destination on the map."

"All I know is that he said that it would bring us to his region if placed on his shrine–"

"Yes, yes, I know; you've already covered that bit. But how do we _get_ there?"

"Wait, who said anything about getting there?" Bakura abruptly interrupted. "I was just trying to prove that Apep really did frame me–"

"For a crime that you were going to commit anyway," Rishid reminded him flatly.

"If I had been allowed to commit the crime uninterrupted, I wouldn't have been caught."

Rishid let the conversation fall back into awkward silence, and he gave it a half a minute before quietly saying, "There was another rumour flying around." He watched Bakura's expression carefully. "They say the prince stepped up to take your punishment. Is that true?"

"Yes. Yes, Rishid, pretty much every rumour you've heard is true, alright?" Bakura snapped. "For once, the story was so unusual that even the rumours couldn't come up with anything more ludicrous."

"Well, there was one story that Apep had appeared before the court and sent you to the shadow realm..."

"That one wasn't true."

"I'd guessed as much. The thing is though, what do you plan to do now?" Rishid watched Bakura's expression more carefully than before. "If what you said is true and the Puzzle really is in the hands of Apep, then do you plan on getting it back?" The thief paused before adding, "The prince's life is in your hands."

Bakura made a face. "Atem isn't in any trouble. King Ahknemkhanen would never allow his son – the crown prince, no less – to take my punishment. Trust me, Rishid; our best bet would be to get as far away as possible from this place before the king decides to fetch my head." He rose to his feet, slipping Apep's ring back around his neck. "I'm going to call it a night. Make sure the others don't stay up late; we'll be leaving early tomorrow and heading back to base."

Rishid watched the young thief exit the room and make his way to one of the inn's booked rooms for the night, a frown settling over his usually calm features.

"Yes, _sir_."

ooOoo

The journey the following day to their camp was uneventful – dull, even, Marik was tempted to think. Not even the usual degree of teasing would bring Bakura out of his mood and pretty much any comment sent his way would get one of two responses; brooding silence or a snappy remark. And the bad mood seemed to be infectious, because by the time they arrived back at base, a sullen silence had fallen over the group.

The camp was a quiet, unassuming collection of weary tents resting in the shade of a towering cliff; only the basics were left at camp – bedding, some clothes – and anything that was precious enough to need protecting was carried with on person. Those who owned more had their own stash, although it was sure to be away from the camp and in a spot that they were almost certain that they alone knew.

As a general rule, you only kept as much as you would need in a crisis; camp was often moved from place to place, so owning large, bulky or awkward items was usually out of the question. Excess was dangerous; it hindered your escape and slowed you down.

The day passed into evening, and then night, and finally a new morning arrived.

Bakura, however, was woken by the sound of hooves beating the sand outside. He didn't know why he should have hoped his luck would have extended to allowing him a peaceful start to the morning, since his luck hadn't been holding out lately. Still, his mind picked up the sound and nagged him to do something about it. He doubted any of the others would have decided to go on an early morning ride, and experience had taught him to be wary of surprises.

Before he had really had time to think about it, he was already getting to his feet, picking up a cloak from the side and slipping a dagger into his belt. His steps across his tent were careful, measured. No one would know he was moving if they relied on sound alone.

His fingers played with the handle of the dagger as he paused by a gap in the tent material, the hole giving him a limited view of the world outside.

He could see the horse responsible for the hoof beats. It was a large, well-kept stallion – a palace horse, by the looks of things. Bakura's grip on the dagger tightened and his mind was already beginning to organise a plan to awaken the rest of the camp. If palace guards had found them, then they were in for a fight...

He could see a cloaked figure standing beside the horse, a heavy sound from several seconds ago indicating the rider had just dismounted, but with their back to Bakura's tent, he couldn't make much out apart from the fact that the individual was small in stature.

'_At least that's one advantage if it comes to a fight... but where are the other guards? Surely this one can't have come alone..._'

Gently moving to his right, he widened his view of the camp, but no other horsemen were in sight.

'_Perhaps this one was just overeager to make a capture..._' The seconds ticked by and still he couldn't make out any other individuals outside. '_Or maybe it's a trap..._' Still, an instinct told him that if the palace guards had found their base, they would be swarming over the place by now.

Making a snap decision, Bakura stole his way to the other side of his tent and snuck beneath the canvas. He now brought the dagger fully into his hand, sneaking his way around the back of the tents to bring himself closer to the intruder. By now he was certain it wasn't one of his men, and if it wasn't one of his men then he wasn't welcome here.

It was almost too easy to sneak behind the interloper. '_These guards are just getting sloppy nowadays. No wonder it was so easy to get into the palace before,_' he noted dryly. The dagger was placed against the intruder's neck; not hurting them, but making it perfectly clear that they were in a very vulnerable position.

"Right, who are you and what are you doing here?"

"And here I was, hoping that the greeting would be semi-hospitable," the intruder sighed. "Instead I find that it all too easily fits the cliché." The figure turned its head, so that a very feminine pair of eyes met Bakura's. "You thieves are always so predictable."

The little bell of recognition was ringing in the back of Bakura's mind; he was sure he had seen this woman before, and usually he remembered a face. Mentally he started running through all the possibilities. "You still haven't answered my question."

"Well the official title is Princess Mana, but I mostly go by 'your highness'." She smiled wanly at her captor. "I'm the fiancée of the man who will die from your inaction. I'd also appreciate it if you moved the knife away from my throat. _Now_."

"I'm sorry, princess, but since _you_ are the one trespassing..."

Bakura became aware of a slight pressure digging into his lower chest, and found that Mana hadn't come as unprepared as her appearance would lead him to believe, if the knife gripped in her hands was any indication. "Touché."

"Well, now we've reached a nice little stalemate, perhaps you wouldn't mind removing the dagger from my throat?" Mana asked sweetly. "I think we probably would both prefer to be able to talk without blades present, wouldn't we? And you will refer to me as 'your highness'."

"Well, _your highness_, I would love to give a bow, but current circumstances are preventing me from displaying my respect," Bakura growled. He was mentally cursing himself for his inattention; he shouldn't have discarded her as a threat so quickly. But now he remembered where he had seen her – she had been the young royal standing by Atem's side at the celebration. A pretty, if slightly ornamental, piece, he had initially noted. Not particularly interesting. Of course, then she hadn't been wielding a knife back then; now she was and he was trying to work out his best course of action.

"Alright, princess; if I move the dagger away, you drop the knife, deal?"

"I keep the knife," Mana quickly debated. "Hey," she added, "I don't want to be the only one without a weapon."

"Alright, I move the dagger, you move the knife. Now is it a deal?"

"Deal."

Bakura moved his dagger slowly away from the brunette's neck, cautiously pacing himself to match Mana's speed. The two warily stepped away from the other, Mana moving closer towards her horse and resting one hand against the steed's groomed neck

"Okay, princess; time for you to head off. I'm sure there's a whole legion of guards looking for you right now."

"I'm sure there is," Mana replied coolly. "But they'll be going the wrong way. I left a message saying that I was finding this all too distressing and that I was travelling back home. It'll be...oh, a good two weeks before they get to my capital and discover I wasn't being strictly honest with them."

"And they'll buy that story? That you just upped and left without a word?"

The princess shrugged. "My parents will. It wouldn't be the first time I've wandered off without forewarning. Of course, those times weren't in a foreign land, but they probably wouldn't put it past me. Anyway," she calmly continued, her eyes narrowing as they focused on the thief before her, "that is not the concern here."

"It's my concern if I'm charged with kidnapping a princess!"

"You're already charged with stealing the Millennium Puzzle," Mana bit back."Don't worry; they can't carry out the death sentence twice. The criminal is usually dead the first time through. Unless," she coldly added, the glare intensifying, "the crook is a coward who leaves his friend to take his place..."

"I didn't ask Atem to do that!" Bakura snapped. "That was his own stupid fault."

"Don't," Mana hissed, raising her knife to point at the thief, "talk about my fiancé like that. He's twice the man you'll ever be."

"He'll be a dead man."

"Only if you don't return the Puzzle."

Bakura mock-bowed towards the young royal, smirking darkly at the woman. "Well, I'm sorry, _your highness_, but I was telling the truth back at the palace. The Puzzle is with Apep and I have no intention of risking life and limb to steal back some dusty relic. If you're so desperate, I suggest you start looking for Apep yourself."

Still smirking, he made to return to his tent, thoroughly of the belief that the conversation was going to be dropped. Mana, however, didn't appear discouraged. Rather she seemed to still be fuming.

She rounded on the thief, blocking his way into the tent. "That's it? You're just going to let him die?"

"Hey, I hate to state the obvious, but everyone dies. It's just a matter of when and how." He moved to walk around the young princess, but Mana stepped between him again.

"But you could prevent his death."

"At the risk of my own. Sorry, princess, but I don't do favours."

"What about debts? Do you do debts?" She blocked him, once again to his irritation. "Because you owe Atem your life, whether you like it or not. And the only way you can pay back that debt is to return the Millennium Puzzle."

"Why are you even here?" Bakura asked abruptly. "You travel all through the night just to pass conversation with me or was there another reason?"

"I'm here to make sure you prevent Atem's death. Whether that means finding the Millennium Puzzle or dragging your sorry butt back to the capital to take your punishment, I don't care. But you are not going to run away from this and leave Atem in the lurch. He's your friend, for Ra's sake!"

"An old friend," Bakura corrected icily.

"A friend who was willing to put his life on the line for you."

"Well then, that just makes him a gullible friend!" Bakura shouted. "If he believed that I am the sort of person who puts their life on the line for others, then he'll find out just how wrong he is when he's facing the executioner's blade! I will _not_ take responsibility for his stupidity!"

Still the princess wouldn't move. Why wouldn't she get out of his way?

"Is that how you see things?"

"Yes."

She pursed her lips in a thoughtful manner, frown lines beginning to form along her brow. "Fine." For a moment Bakura thought he had won. "I thought perhaps I could talk some sense into you, but now it's quite clear that since you don't own a conscious, I'll be a long time waiting if I try to induce some guilt into you." She dropped a hand into her pockets, and for the first time Bakura noticed that she wasn't in her ornamental clothes but had gone for a more practical look, her hair also released from its elaborate braid, and brought out a small purse. "I guess bribery is more your style anyway," she growled.

The purse was dropped into Bakura's palm and, on opening it up, he discovered its contents to be a variety of golden jewellery, all endued with precious gems and probably costing a small fortune each.

"Some of them are heirlooms, so they'll fetch a pretty price at the black market." Mana's eyes softened, but not at Bakura. The thief got the distinct impression that some of the pieces had emotional meaning to the young woman; perhaps these were the few jewels she had brought with her from her homeland. He brought the drawstring pouch back into a close, curling his fingers around the miniature treasure trove.

"And for this payment, you want _what_, exactly?"

"Either return the Puzzle or reclaim it from Apep," Mana answered instantly. "If the Apep story was all a lie and you do, in fact, have the Puzzle in your possession, then that jewellery should probably fetch just as much on the market."

"And if the Apep story wasn't a lie?"

"Then that jewellery is payment for your services," the princess replied, barely missing a beat. "I would be hiring you to steal back the Puzzle. You're good at that sort of thing. And, just to make sure you don't decide to wimp out of the deal, I'm coming with you."

"Really?" Now a smirk began to curl at the corners of Bakura's lips. "I'm afraid a band of thieves isn't the sort of place for a princess..."

"No, I don't expect it is." Mana returned his smirk. "Should that bother me?"

Bakura scoffed and shoved the woman, none-too-gently, to one side so he could finally enter his tent. "Fine. Come along if you so wish, but I won't take responsibility for you." He paused to glower back at the brunette one last time. "You're just as noble-minded as Atem. The two of you deserve each other."


	6. Variations on a Plan

**A/N: Short chapter today. Sorry. Still, enjoy!**

**Again, thanks to all you wonderful, wonderful reviewers! _Aqua girl 007_, _YamiOkami_, _Sailor Ra _****and _YamiBakura1988_. You guys are awesome!**

**LadyCathy. x**

**ooOoo**

Chapter 6: Variations on a Plan

"What do you mean, 'no'?" Mana's loud and rather incredulous voice caught the attention of several thieves passing by. At a glare from their leader, they pretended to continue with whatever they were doing, but Bakura wasn't fooled. He crossed his arms and directed his glare back to the young brunette.

"I mean no. No, I don't know how to get to Apep's realm, therefore we can't even start this mad, stupid quest, _therefore_ I suggest you head back to your comfy little palace." Bakura idly wondered whether Mana would remember the jewellery she had bribed him with, and whether she would demand for them back. He hoped not.

Mana, however, wasn't thinking of defeat just yet.

"But you told Atem–"

"I said what I needed to say to get me out of trouble."

"In case you hadn't noticed, you're only 'out of trouble' because Atem spoke up for you," Mana growled. "You're only 'out of trouble' because Atem believed your story and you're only '_out of trouble_' because Atem took your place!"

Again, several thieves slowed in their chores. It wasn't often they got to see their leader getting chewed out, and by a woman, no less. The situation had been explained pretty quickly earlier on and now the technicalities of the agreement were being hotly debated.

"Again, then he is a fool!"

"Do you have no honour?"

Bakura grinned. "Remember who you're talking to, sweetheart."

Mana slapped him. Hard. "I'll put up with 'princess,' but 'sweetheart' is out of the question," she hissed. "That goes for 'sweetie' too."

"Get out of the wrong side of the bed, did you this morning?"

"I'm warning you..."

Bakura barked out a laugh. "You're warning me? Princess," he said smoothly, gesturing to their surroundings, "take a good look at where you are. You have little power here."

Mana looked liked she was tempted to slap the thief again, but she stayed her hand this time. "You have one month to find the book and return it," she eventually remarked tightly. "If, in a month, neither yourself nor the book has returned to the capital, then Atem will take your punishment and you will have his death upon your head."

"Look, princess; I would love to help, alright?"

Mana scoffed under her breath.

"But I just don't know how to get into Apep's realm."

"You know that isn't strictly true, right?" Another thief had decided to join the conversation, and was watching Bakura's flat refusals with a disappointed gaze.

"Shut up, Rishid," Bakura mumbled. To his annoyance, the young royal took the comment seriously.

"What? So you do know how to get into his realm?" Mana accused.

"Well... in a way."

"How 'in a way'?"

"Just show her the ring, Bakura."

Bakura was glaring at Rishid for blowing away his lie, but gestured for Mana to follow him inside his tent. He would prefer for as few people as possible to know about the existence of Apep's ring, so showing it to Mana in the middle of the camp probably wasn't the best idea. Rishid followed the pair inside, accompanied, to Bakura's surprise, by Marik.

The ring was brought off his neck and placed on the table, where all four of them could see it.

"So what's actually going on?" Marik let the tent flap fall shut behind him, glancing round at the three other occupants inside. "Rishid explained most of it, but how is that ring supposed to be the key to Apep's realm?"

Rishid received yet another glare from Bakura. "Ra, Rishid, is there anyone you _didn't_ tell about this?"

"I was doing what I thought was best." To Bakura's continued annoyance, he could well believe that too. And personally he was relieved that he wouldn't have to keep too many secrets from his other second-in-command, not that he was about to admit that. Too many secrets meant that one was always in danger of slipping up at the simplest of comments.

"Well, sorry to disappoint everyone, but I have no idea how the ring is meant to lead me to Apep's region. He didn't even tell me that it would; only that it would bring me to him once placed in his shrine..."

"Except that you don't know where the shrine is," Mana finished, slowly getting the picture.

"Exactly. Which is why this whole endeavour is useless–"

"Oh, for Ra's sake, are you going to admit defeat that quickly?" the princess snapped. "If Apep meant for you to find his shrine, he would have left a way for you to locate it."

"Maybe he didn't." Bakura stared coldly at the young woman. "Apep even admitted that he knew I when I stole the Millennium Puzzle, I wasn't going to hand it over to him, so perhaps the ring was just a trick to make it seem as if he were sincere."

"Seems like pretty an elaborate rouse..." Mana abruptly stopped, her mind narrowing down on the beginning of Bakura's sentence. "Wait, what do you mean about you stealing it? You told the court that you were preventing Apep from taking it."

Bakura glowered at his slip-up. He had forgotten about his lies at the palace. "Well, I was trying to prevent Apep from taking it. I just happened to leave out the part that I was in the palace because I was planning on stealing it for myself. I guess I also forgot to mention that I had originally made a deal with Apep to steal the Puzzle for him." Perhaps he shouldn't have told her the last part, but it was entertaining to see Mana's expression gradually blacken; she was just so easy to annoy.

"Of all the arrogant, hypocritical...!" Mana struggled to find words to describe him further, her mouth moving in silent, probably coarse, insults. Eventually she found her voice again. "You should have accepted your punishment back at the palace!"

"But _I _wasn't the one who stole the Puzzle."

"You were planning to!"

"Oh, and just because a thief thinks about stealing something, that makes him automatically guilty, does it?" he snapped back.

"If Apep hadn't turned up, you would have stolen it. _That's_ the point!"

"If Apep hadn't turned up, I wouldn't have been caught, I wouldn't have been brought before the king and sentenced, and Atem wouldn't have volunteered to take my place. Perhaps you should take a look at the bigger picture once in a while."

"Perhaps you should have thought twice before accepting such a task from a god!"

"I side with the princess."

"Shut up, Marik." Bakura glared back at the princess, privately wishing that the small voice of reason within his head wasn't also agreeing with her. "Alright, _your highness_, we'll start looking for Apep's shrine. But with no idea of the direction or location, we will be a long time looking. We'll be lucky if we even find it before Atem's month is up," he growled. He was pleased to see that Mana's livid expression faltered as she was reminded of Atem's dilemma. Ra, and the two barely knew each other. Once again he wondered if all royalty was installed with innate noble stupidity or whether his sample was just biased.

"Apep must have left a clue," Mana mumbled, her previous fire dying away.

'_Add blind optimism to that list of royal traits,_' Bakura internally noted. He picked the ring off the table, holding it before for the princess to clearly see. "Look, I've been wearing this damn ring ever since I struck that damn deal with Apep, and I can honestly say that it has shown as much magical ability as a _teapot_. If it had some mystical ability that enabled it to show us the way, I think I would know about it by now..."

He trailed off when he spotted that the other three's attention had drifted from him and were fixed with a kind of bemused fascination on the ring; something in their expressions told him something was amiss. He glanced down to the golden ring in his hand to see that the five prongs were defying the laws of gravity and were currently horizontal. They appeared to be pointing in a specific direction.

'_Ra, I had to go and open my big, fat mouth..._'

Mana smirked at the thief king. "I guess that means we have our heading."


	7. The Disadvantages of Volunteering

**A/N: Hm, apparently I don't own _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ Shock! Horror! Oh, and I don't own _Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas_ either. Meh, I'll keep wishing on that star...**

**Thanks to my two reviewers for last chapter: _Aqua girl 007 _and _YamiBakura1988_ . You two are the best!**

**ooOoo**

Chapter 7: The Disadvantages of Volunteering

Unsurprisingly, Bakura was in a foul mood for the next couple of days. He didn't like being shown up in front of others, especially not by a stranger and even more so by royalty. Add to that that just about everyone in the group seemed to know that Bakura had lost a fight with a woman, and it was a recipe for unpredictable mood swings.

The third day led the group to the edge of familiar territory; beyond that none of them knew the layout, so they stopped by a known well to restock on water and perhaps hunt any for some extra meat. The semi arid desert had given way to a more mountainous desert; part of the landscape was rock rather than sand now, but at least it provided shade.

And, for all her stubbornness, Mana was _bored_. She had spent three long, dull days upon her horse, with little conversation to pass the time and the distinct impression that everyone was avoiding her. Most of the men would dodge any conversation she tried to start, while Bakura ignored her presence entirely. Rishid would talk to her, but he wasn't much of a speaker anyway. In fact, one of the few people she could get a semi-decent conversation out of was Marik – and she rather got the impression that was only because it annoyed Bakura so much.

All the same, the result was that the next evening – when they had travelled beyond their mental map – Mana volunteered to find a source of water. This was met by a mixed response; most of the men stared as if she had just volunteered to grow an extra head, while Bakura only laughed.

Mana, however, didn't find it all that amusing.

"What?" she snapped. "We need water, so I thought I might offer to help. Is there a problem with that?"

"No, of course not, _your highness_," Bakura replied, smirking. "Just try not to get too lost."

Mana bit back a retort, but only just and only because the prospect of searching for a source of water sounded thrilling compared to another silent evening at the camp. And she would finally have a chance to get away from everyone else; finally she would have a bit of true solitude. Taking his last comment as acknowledgement that she could go, she picked up her cloak and small satchel from the side and walked away from the camp. Up ahead, the cliff divided into two, making the surroundings more like a canyon of sorts than a desert, and quickly Mana disappeared from view.

"Do you think that was wise?" Rishid asked dryly.

Bakura only smirked again, and threw a few sticks to the hungry fire. "When was the last time I did anything that you deemed 'wise'?" he returned. "Don't worry; what's the worst that could happen?"

"Don't tempt fate."

"Ra, you're so gloomy sometimes."

"I can't help thinking that I'd like to avoid having a princess die on our watch."

Bakura scoffed; more sticks found themselves unceremoniously tossed into the flames. "What makes her so important, Rishid? Bloodlines? It was only by chance – fate, fortune; call it what you will – that she was born into a royal family. What would have been so special about her if she had been born into a different background? Nothing. She's not particularly smart, otherwise she wouldn't be here, she's not funny and she's not even that pretty."

Rishid thought over these less-than-complimentary remarks before contributing his own comment. "She's got guts, though. Aren't many princesses who'd have done what she's done."

"That's because she's as stupid as Atem," Bakura grumbled. "All nobleness and no survival instinct. She didn't even meet him in person until the night Apep stole the Puzzle. Why put your life on the line for a near stranger?"

"Perhaps she loves him."

The thief scoffed again, a disbelieving grunt settling in the back of his throat.

"Or perhaps she just has a strong sense of justice," Rishid offered. "Whatever the reason, she's here now. Perhaps you should finally accept that and concentrate on finding Apep's shrine."

"Is our great leader still sulking?" Marik sat down alongside the other two, a bottle of something probably alcoholic grasped in one hand.

"I'm not sulking," Bakura muttered, trying to ignore just how childish he sounded in saying that.

"Bakura, you're sulking, alright? There's no big shame in it, but you might at least admit it," Marik replied lightly.

"I would be fine with admitting if it I were sulking. But I'm not."

"What do you call the last three days then?"

Bakura opened his mouth, struggled for several seconds, and eventually surrendered with silence.

"Anyway, where's the princess?" the other thief asked, letting the sulking topic slide. "We haven't lost her already, have we?"

Bakura jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "She's gone to find water."

"Alone," Rishid added, just for clarification. Bakura received another disapproving look from him.

"Would you stop the guilt-tripping already?"

"Alone?" Marik echoed, ignoring Bakura's irritated remark. He looked to the white-haired thief. "You let her go _alone_?"

Bakura groaned. "So _you're_ having a go at me too now? Look, she'll be fine." His comment was met with doubtful expressions. "If you're so damn worried you can go running after her. You two seemed to be getting along like a house on fire anyway."

"Ra, Bakura, of course we got along like a house on fire," Marik responded, losing a little of his cool demeanour at his friend's irritably irrational paranoia. "I'm the only one who's actually talked to her for the last three days. At this rate, I think she'll be happy to talk to the horses."

"Alright then," Bakura snapped waspishly. "You can go after her."

"No way. I'm not going to make up for your appalling people skills. It's about time you attempted to talk to her yourself. And shouting doesn't count," Marik clarified with a grin. "We all know you're very good at that."

Bakura glared at his two friends, his two second-in-commands, and, with a growl, rose to his feet. "Fine. _Fine_. If it'll make you happy, I'll go and check on her. Don't expect any pleasantries though."

"We're not expecting a miracle."

Bakura's mood wasn't improved by that, but he still headed off in the direction he'd seen Mana take, muttering under his breath about the inconvenience of having friends as he went.

ooOoo

At the other end of the spectrum, Mana was thoroughly enjoying herself. Despite any worries on either Rishid or Marik's part, she hadn't fallen into trouble yet and was gradually mapping out the layout of the canyon. The cliffs rose high above her, towering in stature, and easily establishing a secluded atmosphere. Here she could believe that she was truly in a foreign, unfamiliar country, far away from what many would class as civilisation.

There had been no sign of water yet, but the fact that the place didn't look as lifeless as the desert they had trekked in from gave her hope. There would have to be a water source to support any life, and she could make an educated guess that any water would be at the bottom of the canyon. Those few facts alone gave her the reassurance to continue her search.

She paused beside the rock-face and glanced up, up at the dusky evening sky. How long had it been since she had last watched the sun set in the forest beside her home palace? Too long. But apparently staying out in the forest without a guard wasn't wise for a princess, especially in the evening. She'd had free reign over her movements until she reached eighteen; at eighteen, her parents had abruptly realised that their youngest child was no longer a child, but an adult, and the lessons on being a princess had begun.

In the stilled evening silence Mana heard a telltale drip of water. She picked up her head and found herself rounding on a gap in the wall of rock; she found a roughened cavern entrance, the sides still rugged even with the many years of erosion.

The sound of the water was indeed coming from inside. Her curiosity began to swell inside her; the prospect of exploring a cave held a certain appeal to it. Anyway, she rationalised as she opened up her bag, it wasn't like she'd have much chance to do this sort of thing once she was married; as a wife and princess, she would have other duties to attend to. Her hand found a makeshift torch – in essence a bat with rags wrapped around one end – and she quickly lit it. It burned with a weak, hesitant flame for a short period before gradually gaining strength.

Now, with one hand lightly resting against the outside layer of rock, she leant towards the entrance, using her dim torch to illuminate a few murky steps into the interior. Lifting it up, she cast flickering shadows onto the cave's floor; the floor in question was uneven but dry.

Stepping inside, she took the first few steps away from the bright outdoors. She discovered quickly that she didn't suffer from claustrophobia, her steps becoming slowly more confident as she plunged further inside and still hadn't met anything unusual. For the next few minutes her world was the faded sphere of light cast from her torch; anything further beyond it was darkness and creeping shadow.

Her foot kicked into something, something solid. Pausing in her step, she knelt down, bringing her light to floor level. She found the unmoving bodies of mice. Initially she wondered whether they were frozen out of fear, but when her hand passed over them and they still failed to move, she came to the conclusion that they were dead.

They seemed unmarked; their bodies were in no bitten or injured state, they were simply unmoving. Even when she accidentally knocked one away with her foot, it remained frozen in the same position.

"Okay... weird..."

Mana quickly straightened up, trying to expel the unwanted worries from her mind and failing miserably. She looked around her, but could only see into the limited light from her burning torch. Suddenly her expedition seemed like a bad idea.

She scowled to herself, frowning down at the voice of cowardice muttering in the back of her mind. She pushed it aside and crept further into the cave, mentally keeping track of her progress with every step that took her deeper into the cave's clutches. She wanted to ensure she would know the exit, if the need came.

"It's just a dank, murky old cave, Mana," she told herself. Her voice bounced off the walls, and while they didn't echo with any clarity, they filled the air with vapid whisperings. "Nothing's going to happen."

ooOoo

Pinpointing the scream when it came – for came it did, and Bakura made an educated guess that the owner was Mana – wasn't the easiest task, but eventually the source was narrowed to a cave entrance embedded in the rock face. He glowered into the dingy darkness.

"Damn princess; probably found a spider or something..."

All the same, he hesitated at the opening. Despite all his snappy remarks at Rishid and Marik he didn't relish the idea of a princess's death while the royal was under his care – whether or not the princess was officially even meant to be accompanying them. He already had one death threat hanging over his head; he'd rather not tempt another.

He began to wish he had brought along a torch, but he had assumed he would be able to locate the elusive royal before the dusk gave way to night, and he certainly hadn't expected to be entering a dark and gloomy cave. Still, he had his other senses, even if he didn't like the idea of tackling the cave blind.

His hands grazed the rough cavern wall, tracing the curve of the passage and guiding him further in. For a few moments he relived his initial fear that he had experienced upon his previous arrival in Apep's realm; the fear of being blind had been all too potent, all too unexpected. Now though, he knew the reason for the lack of sight, but the worry had still momentarily crept into his thoughts.

He froze upon hearing the unsubtle sound of footsteps pounding the uneven ground. '_She really needs to learn to be lighter-footed,_' Bakura noted idly to himself, remembering just how easily he had been alerted to her presence when she had first arrived. A light bounced off the walls, locating the girl's approaching presence. However, Bakura hadn't been prepared for Mana to suddenly appear from around a corner and cannonball into him and in the kerfuffle Mana's torch was knocked from her hands and dropped heavily to the floor, where its weak light spluttered and then died.

There was a brief exchanging of cursing; Bakura's language was notably coarser than Mana's. Eventually Bakura sent a waspish remark to the young woman, informing her that it was he she had bumped into. Mana sounded like she had calmed down after that.

Bakura's foot knocked against the dropped torch and, after several seconds rummaging in the pitch black, the thief picked the item up. It took several more stumbling seconds before he managed to light the torch once again. The shadows reluctantly drew back, once more receding into the crevices of the wall, but clinging at the edge of the flickering sphere of light, threatening to flood their surroundings again at the slightest weakness.

"Ra, woman; what are you trying to do?" demanded Bakura, feeling no reservations against glaring at the young princess. "What are you even doing in here?"

Mana gasped a few words, but the thief hadn't been able to distinguish any intelligible words.

"Come again?"

"Body..." Mana finally gasped. She was pointing behind her. "There was a... a body back there!"

Bakura looked in the direction she was gesturing in with not enough worry for Mana's liking. "A body?" he doubtfully repeated. He raised one eyebrow at the brunette and then, just as quickly, shrugged it off. "Well, I suppose some poor sod got lost in these caves and never made it back out. Hell of a way to go, but not unheard of..."

"You don't get it," Mana hissed, still gesturing behind her. Bakura idly wondered whether she was aware of the nerve-ridden action. "There's a body back there. A dead person."

"I assumed that's what you meant the first time. By the gods, princess; did you have to go and scream over that? It sounded like you were being murdered." Bakura smirked. "I suppose princesses aren't made for a life out here."

"No, we're probably not," Mana agreed. She was too shaken to be dragged into another argument. Anyway, right now all she wanted was to get out of the cave. "So you can take this _princess_ back to camp, as far away from the dead person as possible. And I didn't just scream because the man was dead," she added stiffly, gingerly making her way towards the small pocket of light that marked the exit. "I screamed because I almost walked into him."

"Still pathetic." Bakura followed after the princess, torch in hand.

"He was standing."

Bakura paused. "Standing?"

"Like you are now," Mana said, in a not-so-light manner. She looked back at the thief, panic still glimmering in the back of her eyes but mild anger at his dismissal now present. "Frozen in that position. It didn't make any sense and I don't understand it, but perhaps that will explain why I screamed."

Bakura didn't try to think it over; something wasn't right with that, and he didn't want to stick around to find out. He began to wonder whether Apep knew of the quest he had unwillingly embarked on, and whether the god would try to intervene. All he knew right now was that every shadow, every patch of inky darkness, was setting his nerves on edge.

"It happens to dead bodies," he gruffly remarked. He started walking again, taking the lead this time.

"What?"

"The freezing thing, it happens to dead bodies," he reiterated. Perhaps he wasn't being very clear, but he was doing his utmost to rationalise Mana's statement. "A couple of hours after someone dies, their body goes rigid for a period; it's how you can sometimes estimate how long ago someone died. It'll also be why the man appeared to be frozen."

"He must have died on his feet then," Mana mumbled rebelliously. From the sound of her voice, it sounded as if she were glaring at him. Or at his back, to be more precise. "And then someone must have propped him up for the next couple of hours and waited for this rigid process to happen."

Bakura had tried not to see that rather gaping hole in his logic. He abruptly turned on his feet. "At least I'm trying to make sense of it!" he snapped. The torch's flame flickered at the sudden movement, and then regained its steady glow. "At least _I'm_ not the one running around in hysterics, ranting about dead people! If stumbling into the body hadn't alerted anyone of your presence, then your screaming did the trick! You're very lucky that nothing else is in the cave!"

"I wasn't in hysterics," Mana protested under her breath.

"Oh, really? Well then, you must have a different dictionary to me, because I've seen five-year-olds act with more composure than you back there."

"And how many five-year-olds have almost walked into a dead body? Or is that a ritual that thieves apparently have to go through?" the princess retorted. She turned on her heel and stormed along the passageway, torch or no torch. The light marking the exit was light enough anyway.

"Oh, you think you're so full of yourself, don't you, princess?" Bakura snapped, coming up alongside her. "Well just let me tell you one thing. Most people aren't born with the luxury of a title, or a wage, or even the assurance of three whole meals a day. Most people have to work, and they work _damn hard_ to survive. But _you_, princess? What would you know of _life_? You've been pampered from the day you were born, brought up in a blip of a bubble where everything is cosy and perfect and nasty little occurrences like starvation or disease or poverty don't exist. So don't go making judgements on others, because you have no idea of the life they've led."

The exit was only a couple of metres away, but Mana slowed. She looked to the thief, shocked and surprised by his outburst. "I didn't mean to say anything hurtful," she murmured. "I just..."

"You were just playing on the stereotype, I know." A growl was emitted from somewhere in the back of Bakura's throat, and he sped up his pace to reduce the distance to the outside. "I know; everyone loves to play on the thief stereotype. It's nothing I haven't heard before."

Before he could step outside though, there was a rumble from the roof. Instinctively, he moved back, pushing aside the conversation to one side of his mind as the rumbling grew in strength and sound and eventually the source of the noise became evident as a landslide of rocks and mud slid down to cover the entrance. Once again the pair were left with only the flickering torchlight to cast away the shadows.

Mana was the first to say anything; she commented on Bakura's luck that he hadn't been at the entrance when it collapsed. She secondly remarked that the timing had been a bit funny; as if someone had intended them to see that their path out was blocked.

Bakura took on a less optimistic view. He strode up to the very solid and indisputably unyielding blockage and beat one hand into the rock. "Funny?" he repeated hoarsely. "It isn't funny at all; I expect Apep meant us to see this."

"You can't blame Apep for a landslide," Mana commented sternly. She walked up to the barrier and prised the torch from his fingers, noting the rather mangled state of the hand which had just made a sudden acquaintance with the rock. "I think you're getting just a little paranoid."

"It's not paranoia! Apep framed me for the theft and now he's trying to make sure I don't get to his realm."

"If he wanted to ensure that, couldn't he just send you to the shadow realm and be done with it?" Mana reminded him. She was already looking at the way they'd previously come, wondering whether there was another exit. They didn't have much choice in the matter really; that tonne of rock behind them didn't look like it would be easy to shift any time soon.

"He wouldn't do that; that would be too boring," Bakura growled. He was still staring hatefully at the barrier before him, apparently unaware that Mana had levered the torch from his grip. "It's much more entertaining to watch us dance for them," he added, bringing up that memory from the palace with an evident air of loathing. "Bloody gods with their bloody games."

"I guess this means we'll have to start finding another exit then," the princess added, choosing to ignore Bakura's foul mood and language. "Unless you'd like to sulk until the fire dies, and then we can have a fun time trying to find our way out in the darkness."

"I'm _not_ sulking!"

"And I wasn't being hysterical earlier," Mana replied dryly. "Come on. I don't know about you, but I don't relish the idea of dying here and I don't relish the idea of waiting to see what got that man. Anyway, if we die here then we'll never be able to reclaim the Puzzle."

"Why does it always come back to Atem?" Bakura grumbled.


	8. Cockatrice

**A/N: Just a big thanks to my two steady reviewers; _Aqua girl 007_ and _YamiBakura1988_ - you two are the best! Additionally, sorry for the slow update - internet problems were being a pain...**

**But now, enjoy the chapter!**

**LadyCathy. x**

**ooOoo**

Chapter 8: Cockatrice

Ten minutes of walking aimlessly through the cave, and already tempers were beginning to flare. Neither had liked the other's company particularly and now they faced the concept of dying with no one but the other, it only appeared to intensify that dislike. Common cause, it appeared, had failed to bring the two together.

Mana stole a glance at her sole companion, her eyes lingering over Apep's ring which had slipped into view at some point since Bakura's entrance into the cave. "Doesn't that thing have a tracker mode or something?" she asked eventually.

Bakura took several seconds to realise what she was referring to, and even then, he still gave it several more seconds before dignifying it with a response. "No it doesn't have a bloody tracker mode."

Again, Mana chose to ignore his choice of language. Perhaps when they were in a less stressful situation she would start to nag him over it, but she had more pressing matters right now. "Alright. No need to be like that. Still," she added under her breath, "seems like a pretty useless trinket right now."

Bakura turned on the spot, wielding the burning torch in one hand. There had been some debate over who should keep the torch and he had eventually won, although Mana still wasn't convinced. "Would you mind keeping your opinions to yourself? You're not helping."

"Sorry." She didn't sound particularly sorry, but she did sound like she wasn't about to bring it up again. "Hey, Bakura?"

"Hm?"

Mana picked up her pace so she was walking alongside the thief. Bakura appeared to notice this, for he subconsciously – or not-so-subconsciously, depending on how paranoid Mana felt – quickened his own pace, making Mana work yet harder to keep up. She growled under her breath, but didn't utter any verbal complaint. She didn't, however, pursue the conversation. "Nothing."

"Why did you even speak then?"

"I just... Nothing," she repeated, stumbling a little over her words this time.

"If you're not even going to say anything, you shouldn't have even started the conversation," Bakura remarked harshly.

"Fine," she snapped moodily back. '_Stupid, pig-headed thief..._' A few more half-hearted insults flitted through her mind, not her most inventive or convinced, but still present. The irritation was just building up to a noticeable level when her feet kicked into something at ground level; her feet automatically walked over them, but she faltered when the realisation leaked into her mind.

Bakura paused, glowering at the princess for the delay. "_Now_ what?"

"There's something by my feet."

"Probably a spider. You're not afraid of spiders, are you?" he asked idly, a glimmer in his expression suggesting that he was somewhat amused by the idea.

"Not a spider. Move the light."

Bakura grudgingly moved the torch so their feet were thrown into sharp definition, and he couldn't deny that his own stomach lurched for a moment. For Mana was standing on the whitened bones of some kind of gazelle. By moving the torch to the side, he realised the gazelle wasn't alone; other skeleton remains littered the floor. Again, his stomach lurched.

"Creepy," Mana eventually croaked.

Bakura simply nodded, not trusting his voice to speak. When he was sure his voice wasn't going to stutter or stumble, he muttered, "Let's move. I don't like the look of this."

"Do you think something is down here?"

"Let's move," he repeated gruffly.

"Might it be dangerous?"

"I said let's move!" Bakura snapped. He brought the torch back up and stormed along the stone corridor, Mana's heavy footsteps sounding after him. He turned to his side to see that the princess had finally caught up with him. "Has it occurred to you," he started in a low, grating voice, "that if there _is_ something down here, your incessant questions are only going to draw its attention? If you had any common sense, you'd shut up."

Mana opened her mouth to snap back a retort, but at that point Bakura had drawn to an abrupt stop. She had to stumble over her feet to prevent herself slamming into him. As things were though, she still walked into his back.

"Would you watch where you're going?" he demanded. His voice sounded less stable than it usually did.

"Would you mind giving a _warning_ before stopping like that?" she bit back. "And I didn't mean to do that; do you think I like getting a mouthful of hair? You need a haircut."

Bakura turned on his heel and stalked back the way they'd just come. Mana wasn't so quick to move, stunned by the lack of verbal response. "Hey, what's going on?" She looked in the direction they'd just been heading in, squinting in the blackening gloom in an attempt to spot whatever had changed Bakura's mind. As Bakura had the torch though, all she could see was shadows. But, just for a moment, she had seen something lurking in the darkness. "Bakura?"

"Would you come along? I'm not going to wait all day for you."

"Bakura, what did you see?" Mana grabbed his sleeve; the ignorance was almost worse than knowing what had startled her companion so. "Bakura!"

"Would you just shut up? You're going to attract the attention of every living thing in a three-mile radius!"

"And your shouting isn't doing so?" she shot back. In the semi-gloom they stared the other down. Bakura was usually very good at staring contests, but today he was unnerved.

"Fine. _Fine_. Take a look at it and then we'll be gone. But I'm not going to stick around to save your sorry behind." He marched back up the rocky interior, raising the torch to cast sickly flickers of light into the unknown. And Mana stared.

For lying across the ground, ghostly white and scaled and all too large, was the shed skin of some giant snake.

Mana was aware she was making a whimpering noise in the back of her throat, but her brain had disengaged from her mouth a while back and she was having problems bringing her voice back. Eventually she croaked, "Big..."

"Yeah, big." Bakura had grabbed Mana's arm with his spare hand and was dragging her back the way they'd come. "So whatever shed that mammoth skin is also big, and very probably dangerous. And I'd rather not come across it any time soon."

"Uh-huh," Mana murmured unintelligibly. Her mind was still struggling with the concept of 'giant snake'. Apparently so was Bakura's, for there was no smart remark emitted from him.

ooOoo

"I think I heard something." Mana tugged at Bakura's sleeve, bringing him to a reluctant stop. This had been happening every few minutes since the snake-skin incident. Bakura's nerves were almost shredded as a result.

"Princess, if you jump at every squeak and scrape in this place, we're going to get nowhere," the thief hissed. "Would you calm down? Ra, I'm going to start jumping at every shadow at this rate."

"I can't help it," she whispered.

"Then try harder." He did, however, pause this time. Despite Mana's previous false starts, this time he had thought he had seen something in the inky darkness also. This time he heard movement. It took him several laboured seconds to place the sound as timid hoof-beats.

"See? You hear it too."

"It doesn't sound very snake-like," Bakura commented flatly. "In fact, I'd say it sounded more like a gazelle..."

Mana thought of the gazelle bones she'd walked over earlier. She visibly paled. "Thanks. Now I feel much better."

Bakura ignored her comment, raising the torch above his head. The light dispelled the shadows further out, illuminating the form of a gazelle ambling blindly through the cave. It faltered at the humans' appearance, staring bluntly at the torch, its wide eyes glittering in the light. Ears flickered, hooves beat nervously upon the stone ground.

"Careful. I hear they bite," Bakura remarked bluntly.

Mana whacked him on the shoulder, her pride just a little bit bruised by the sarcasm. "_Not_ appreciated," she hissed. "Anyway, it must have entered somehow. That means there's an exit somewhere–"

"Unless the only exit was the one the landslide blocked," Bakura offered unhelpfully.

"Pessimist."

"Hey, we have to consider _all_ the options. And at least we won't go hungry."

"What do you mean by that–" Mana suddenly realised what Bakura was suggesting. "You want to eat the goat?"

"Gazelle," he corrected. "Princess, if it's either eat the gazelle or starve, I know which one I'd choose."

Mana mumbled something under her breath, but she didn't voice it loud enough for Bakura to pick up. She looked at the creature with new eyes, trying to imagine it roasting over a fire; all that came to mind was the whitened bones further back. Something more pressing than the presence of the two humans must have caught the gazelle's attention, because it looked over its shoulder. Its gleaming eyes locked with something and it...

It froze.

Far stiller than any living creature should be.

Suddenly Mana was remembering the deceased man she had run into earlier, standing with a similar level of shock on his frozen face. Abruptly she decided she did not want to be there right now and, grabbing Bakura's arm in a similar fashion to how he had at the snake-skin's appearance, she sped back down the stone corridor.

"What in the name of–"

"Just keep running," Mana gasped.

She could hear it now – the slithering sound of scaled skin dragging itself over the stone floor. And it sounded like it was moving _fast_. Bakura must have heard it too, for he voiced no more complaints on the matter. Mana became aware that they were travelling down a route they hadn't tried before and after a very short period she had lost track of their course entirely. This became more evident as they stumbled over more obstacles. The torch enlightened them that they were now tripping over frozen, paralysed bodies of unfortunate animals. Wherever they were heading, it was evidently closer to the creature's lair.

Turning a sharp right, Mana skidded to a stop and sunk to her knees.

"What are you doing, moron? Get up!"

"We're just getting more lost, Bakura," she wheezed, struggling to regain her breath after the unexpected sprint. The creature had lost them a while back, but that didn't mean they wouldn't bump into it again. "Even if that thing doesn't get us, we still stand a pretty good chance of dying in here."

"And I thought I was the pessimist," Bakura muttered. "Hey, if we don't move, we might as well count ourselves as dead already."

"Just give me a moment to get my breath." In the half shadows of the torchlight, Mana gave a weak grin. "You may be used to all this running around, but where I come from it's considered ungainly for a young royal to run. _One must walk with dignity at all times_." Her last line was said in a manner that suggested this was a phrase she had been unfortunate enough to have repeatedly reiterated to her. She laughed breathlessly and leant her head against the wall.

Bakura glanced down the cave; nothing seemed to be coming from either way. After a moment he sat down beside her. To their right, a soldier appeared to have met the same fate as the rest of the creatures there – paralysed. Their reflections in the gleaming shield stared back at them, just as scared and dishevelled as the real ones. "Hey, princess? What do you think that creature does?"

"The snake thing?"

"Yeah. The snake thing."

Mana mulled over her answer before replying. "I think I've heard of some beast that kills its victims by paralysing them. Not through venom though. Through its gaze. It was called a cockatrice."

"Through its gaze?"

"It was said anything that met the gaze of a cockatrice would immediately die and be frozen in that spot for eternity. I thought it was just a myth, but that goat..."

"Gazelle."

"Is this really the right time to correct my vocabulary?"

"You want to die an inarticulate bumble? Be my guest."

"But that _gazelle_," Mana continued, glaring at her companion, "just froze. And it didn't look normal. _And_ then there was the giant snake that we could both hear to be following us."

"And the snake skin."

"And that too. Thing is, if this really is a cockatrice, then there's one thing you need to remember."

"And what's that?"

Mana's gaze became yet more serious. "Don't meet its eyes."

"Yeah, I get it. Petrifaction for eternity, all that jazz. Relax, princess; I've been getting myself out of tight spots enough times to know when I hear a warning." He smirked at the brunette. "Were you worried you might lose me?"

"I was worried I might lose my guide," Mana snapped. "Don't let it go to your head; it's big enough already." She raised herself to her feet, using the wall for support. "I've regained my breath now; let's go. And we need to find a way to make our movements methodical. I don't want to end up running round in circles."

"Logic? But that's so boring."

"So is death."

"Touché." Bakura rose to his feet also, taking a look around but pausing as a slithering sound unmistakably started drawing nearer. "Princess, does the gaze work if the cockatrice can't see you?"

"No."

"Right." Thinking fast, Bakura killed the flame that was lighting their way. The two of them were thrown into darkness.

"What was that for?"

"Well, I just thought that I didn't like the idea of petrifaction. This way it won't be able to see us."

"Nor us it. I was going to add that it had fangs. Big, sharp, dangerous fangs," Mana hissed. She shifted uncomfortably on her toes, backtracking to where she had seen the frozen soldier. By shuffling her feet slowly over the floor, she managed to locate the fallen shield. She picked it up and bared it before her.

"Really? You couldn't have said that earlier?"

"You didn't give me a chance."

"We were talking back there. You could have just dropped it in."

The hissing was now audible. Very audible. Both humans started backing away slowly. Mana heard the hiss of a blade being drawn from its sheathe. She assumed Bakura had drawn his weapon. "I'm afraid it slipped my mind."

"Really? And these myths that you speak about... Do they say how you defeat a cockatrice?"

"Probably," Mana muttered.

"But you can't remember them," Bakura sneered.

"Not right now, no."

The thief muttered a few choice curses. "Next time you decide to go for a wander, don't invite me along."

"I _didn't_ invite you along." She heard the thing – cockatrice, she presumed – move towards them; Bakura heard it also, for she didn't need to tell him to run before they were both sprinting down the stone corridor. The thing – blind in the darkness, but still tracking them with evident ease – was somewhere behind them, although it sounded like it was bridging the gap between them.

"Are you sure it's a cockatrice? You said it was a snake-thing, right?" Bakura bellowed. Since the thing was following them and seemed to be having no problem doing so, stealth didn't seem to be a concern right now.

"Yeah! And?"

"It's moving bloody fast for a snake!"

"Well, I'm _sorry_!" Mana shouted back. "Next time I won't bother!"

"Fine by me!"

"Fine! I didn't need you to come and – how did you put it? – oh yeah, _save my sorry behind _anyway! I was doing fine before you decided to turn up!"

"Really? I seriously worry about your definition of _fine_!"

There was a thud as Bakura smacked into something – by the sound of things, a stone wall. Mana slowed down enough to feel the curve of the cave, to feel the stone corridor curve away to the right. "Bakura... Did you just run into the wall?"

"Yeah. Shuddup."

She had to admit that his survival instinct was impressive; he had just hit a rather unyielding stone barrier and already he was running. Then again, in the same situation, she might have been doing the same. There was nothing quite like a large, slithery _thing_ behind you to put a bump on the head into perspective.

For a moment she believed the shadows were lifting, receding even. She discarded the thought as wishful thinking and carried on. The shield she had pilfered from the petrified soldier was weighing her down, but she bared it behind her, lest the creature attempted to take a jab in the dark. It lived in these inky depths; she didn't doubt its eyesight was more adapted to these conditions than hers.

No, it hadn't been her imagination... The darkness of the cave really was beginning to lift. Squinting, she could just about make out a silver glow further down the corridor. "Bakura... Bakura, I see the exit!" she yelled. "Straight ahead!"

"Good. Less talking, more running!"

As they neared it, the opening grew larger and easier to see. Mana could make out the silvery glow to be the light emitted from a half-crested moon. She guessed they had been stuck inside for a while now and that evening had given way to night some time ago. Finally she burst out into the cool breeze of night, finally free from that blasted cave. She laughed, taking the air in with gasping ragged breath.

Bakura wasn't so quick to rejoice in their escape from the cave; he still remembered what was chasing them. "Hey, princess. Snake-thing, remember?" He skidded to a halt beside her, since Mana had subconsciously slowed to stop, and snatched away the shield to gain her attention. "Hey, moron! Running, remember?"

Mana found herself staring at the shield; her reflection stared back with the same slow-dawning realisation. Suddenly she was snatching back the shield, grinning at Bakura. "I remember how the myths say a cockatrice is defeated. You can kill it by its own reflection!" She exposed the mirror-like surface of the shield before her, crouching behind it in preparation for the cockatrice to exit the cave.

Already Bakura could hear it making its way towards them. He had enough time to run, but if he did that then there was a chance it would go for him instead of the trap Mana was trying to set for it. Growling irritably to himself, he knelt down beside Mana. "You better hope to Ra that this works, otherwise I'll kill you right in the goddamn Hall of Two Truths myself."

"Since we'd both be dead already, isn't that a little redundant?" Mana reminded him. "Anyway, this will work."

"You're sure about that?"

"Well..."

"What?" Bakura demanded. He didn't like her hesitation, but he didn't have enough time now to scarper. The snake creature was almost upon them. "What is it?"

"Well, the myths are a little hazy on the reflection idea... Some say it will be as deadly as the gaze itself... other stories say that it's the only way to be able to look at a cockatrice..." Mana confessed.

"And you only thought of this _now_?"

"Hey, at least I had a plan!" the princess snapped defensively. "What about you? I haven't heard you make any bright suggestions recently! What did you think we were going to do? Run until we tired it out? In case you hadn't noticed, it's a horrible giant snake! We might have been running a long time!"

"I would have preferred that to simply hiding behind a shield!"

"This is coming from the biggest coward I've ever had the misfortune to meet."

"Oh, right, so we're back to the Atem thing again, are we?" snarled Bakura. "Look – his choice, his fault. I thought we had covered this already!"

"Until we've reclaimed the Puzzle and returned to the capital, I'm afraid this conversation isn't over!"

Both abruptly paused. Something had changed. The air had gone quiet.

"Shouldn't it have got us by now?" Mana whispered, realising at the same time as him about their continued existence.

"Yes..." Bakura moved to peer over the shield, but Mana grabbed his arm.

"No! I think its gaze is still deadly, even if it's dead!" she hissed. "Or are you stupid enough to get killed by a dead monster?" Rolling her eyes, she raised the shied so she could see below it. Before them there was the very definite lower body of a snake-like creature settled into the rocky ground. Utterly, completely still. "I think... it worked..." she whispered. She began to edge round to the side, keeping her eyes low so there was no risk of accidentally meeting the creature's dead gaze. She came to a halt when they were round the back of it.

"_Now_ can I look?" Bakura asked flatly.

"If you want. Just don't look into its eyes."

Bakura grimaced as he got to his feet. "Princess, do I look stupid? Don't answer that."

Mana grinned ruefully to herself as she slowly lowered the shield.

Well, it was certainly a giant snake. Neither could deny that. But neither had fully appreciated how large or round or long the monster was. Bakura visibly shuddered.

Mana grinned at the thief's rare display of weakness. "Not afraid are we?"

"No! I just... don't like anything with tentacles... or snake-like features either..."

"Bad experience?"

"You could say that..." Bakura walked round to the side, slowly taking in the full appearance of the creature with a kind of disgusted fascination. He saw Mana tense up when he neared the head. "Relax, princess. I'm not going to look into its eyes. Stop worrying." He looked up at the creature, his fingers playing over the hilt of the sword he had hastily returned to its sheath a while back. Abruptly he drew it out and delivered a cutting blow to the cockatrice's neck. The head fell to the ground with a dull thud, coming to a slow stop against the rocks.

Mana raised an eyebrow. "_Really_ bad experience?" she reiterated.

Despite everything, Bakura was breathing hard. "You have _no_ idea."


	9. Sincerity

**A/N: Thanks again to my reviewers, _Aqua girl 007_ and _YamiBakura1988_, and to my new reviewer, _Kiterious_! Reviews are what keeps us writers ticking!**

**ooOoo**

Chapter 9: Sincerity

"Ra, what's happened to you two?"

As the two entered the camp, Mana gestured to Bakura with a throwaway motion with her thumb. "Binky boy here decided it'd be fun to run into a wall," she muttered. She stalked past the nonplussed rows of thieves and stormed into the tent designated for her use.

"Ra," Marik repeated, looking to Bakura. _"Ra,_ Bakura, what did you say to her?"

"Something stupid, apparently," Bakura growled. He glowered in the direction of Mana's tent. "I said I'm sorry, alright?"

His apology was met with stony silence.

"It must have been very stupid."

"Shuddup, Marik." Even though it was late night, Bakura took a seat beside the slowly-dying embers of the fire. His and Mana's appearance seemed to have drawn a crowd of thieves, so he reluctantly relayed the cockatrice incident. Missing out a few embarrassing moments, of course. It wouldn't do for everyone to know about the repeated arguments with the princess. By the end, Marik still didn't seem satisfied.

"So what put her in that mood?"

"I think I _may_ had implied that I didn't need her help back there," Bakura admitted. "I think I may have said something along those lines on the walk back..."

"Implied?" Marik repeated doubtfully. "Bakura, I hate to break it to you, but subtly when it comes to words isn't your thing."

"Alright! So I may have told her quite plainly that I didn't need her help, and that I didn't need a woman to help me out, and that I would have done fine without her, thank you very much!"

"Ra, Bakura. You need a crash course on women."

"Oh, and I suppose _you're_ an expert?" Bakura bit back.

"It wouldn't take much to be more of an expert than you."

Rishid appeared to break up the beginnings of the argument. "Come on, this isn't doing anyone any good. And, Bakura, you are aware that you're bleeding, right?"

From Rishid's directed gaze, Bakura guessed the wound was at his head. He raised a hand and gently prodded his forehead, only mildly surprised to find the sticky surface of dried or drying blood attached to his skin. "Bah, that would be from the wall incident. Why didn't anyone tell me earlier?"

"I guess we had more pressing questions at hand," Marik suggested brightly.

"What? Like lecturing me on how to talk to women? Thanks, but it's not _that_ pressing. It's not my fault that she overreacts so easily."

There was the sound of something being thrown angrily against the inside of Mana's tent.

Marik and Rishid looked back to their friend, unimpressed expressions settling over their faces. "I think she heard you," Rishid commented solemnly.

"Perhaps it's best if you apologise."

"Me? I think you've forgotten who you're talking to."

Marik glowered over at his friend and got abruptly to his feet. "I guess we did. Come on, Rishid; we both know he's never going to listen to us. I don't know why we thought this time might be different."

ooOoo

Bakura got the distinct impression Marik and Rishid were _disapproving_ of his fallout with Mana. And his fallout with Mana did last for the next three days. By the fourth day though, Bakura felt it necessary – not for his peace of mind, but to make his two second-in-commands get off his case – to make another attempt at an apology.

Well, perhaps it was closer to being coerced; the truth of the matter was, by the fourth morning, Marik not-so-subtly suggested that Bakura should help Mana fill the water gourds before they headed off for the day's journey. And Bakura, with the instinctive feeling that Marik or Rishid weren't about to give up any time soon, had agreed. With as little grace as he dared manage.

"Marik suggested you could do with an extra pair of hands," Bakura remarked curtly, standing at the side of the trickling river with no immediate movement to lend his aid. The camp was a good five minutes' walk away from the stream, so at least they didn't have an audience to their discussion.

For her part, Mana didn't look up at the thief. "Really? Well go back and tell him that I don't need him meddling in my affairs."

"I would, but Marik would probably just tell me to come back again. He' stubborn like that." With the same air of boredom he watched the princess fill the containers with water. Mana was struggling with one of them; Bakura could see her hands shaking slightly as she lowered it into the stream. Her grip slipped for a moment and her fingers dashed themselves against a rock.

She quickly reclaimed her hand, nursing the grazed knuckles with her other hand. "Ow! Damn river!" She leant back on her haunches, muttering probably non-too-complimentary comments under her breath.

"What's the matter, princess? Hurt your delicate, princess hand?"

"Oh, give it a rest, Bakura," Mana snapped. She brought her other hand away from her knuckles to find that the grazes were beginning to bleed slightly. "I'm not in the mood for your humour."

"You haven't been in the mood for my humour since... oh, ever." When she failed to reply, Bakura's brow furrowed; usually his remarks prompted more of a response. "Oh, come on, princess; this isn't still about the cockatrice thing, is it? I said I was sorry, what more do you want? I didn't expect you to take it to heart so badly."

Mana abruptly rose to her feet, turning round to glare daggers at the young man. "You are the vainest... most pigheaded... _obstinate_ person I've ever met!"

"Oh, and apparently saying sorry makes me vain?" Bakura snapped.

"Yes!" She rounded on him, dropping the gourd to the ground and poking Bakura in the chest with one grazed finger. "It's always about _you,_ isn't it? I'm upset, so it _must_ be because of something you've done! You just can't handle the idea that perhaps you're not always the main thing on everyone's mind!"

"So... it's not because I said I didn't need your help?" he slowly ventured.

Mana huffed and brushed away one stray strand of brown hair that had fallen before her face. "I was only angry over that for the first day," she admitted. "But you can be so blind sometimes. Think about it, Bakura; we've been travelling for over a week now and still this ring of yours hasn't brought us to Apep's door yet."

"We have a month."

"To get there and back. Do the maths," she growled. "We have thirty days, max, to find the Puzzle and return it to the capital to prevent Atem's death. That gives us fifteen days both ways. We only have another week to find the Puzzle."

"Princess, do you really think King Ahknemkhanen would allow his only son – the crown prince, no less – to take a thief's punishment? Especially with the aforementioned punishment being death? Trust me, sweetheart, Atem isn't in any danger."

He received a slap for his words. "I wouldn't bet on that," Mana said in a low voice. "Last time I was there, it sounded like the priests were pretty adamant that someone would have to take the punishment. And Atem is counting on you."

"Too bad for him then," Bakura replied idly. He rubbed one hand over his now-bruised cheek, unfazed by Mana's actions. "Anyway, I'm searching for Apep's shrine, thanks to you. That's more than I was initially going to do."

Glowering in irritation, Mana turned around and started to fill the remaining containers. She ignored the cut skin on her hand, accidently starting the bleeding again. After watching her struggle for a few more seconds, Bakura groaned to himself and knelt down beside her.

"Here, let me help."

"I'm fine."

"You're bleeding."

"I'm _fine_," she repeated grouchily.

"You're stubborn, is what you are," Bakura grumbled. He snatched away one of the containers and took the task upon himself. "Then again, you must have been stubborn in order to get this far," he added, slightly quieter.

"Is that a compliment or a complaint?"

"Take it how you will. I still think you must be either stupidly noble or just plain stupid to risk your life for a near stranger. Was it duty that made you come?"

"No." Mana's voice was softer this time. She paused in her chore, as if thinking for the first time the reasons for her all-too-rash actions. "No, it wasn't duty that did it, although perhaps it was a contributing factor."

"What about love then? Rishid suggested that you did it out of love."

Mana smiled ruefully. "I wish I could say that I did. That would sound... noble, or at least romantic."

"So you don't love Atem?"

"I have only met him once... Love would be too strong a word. I respect him for the deeds I've heard that he's done, and I enjoyed his company during the celebration, but love..." Mana's gaze saddened. "That would imply I actually knew him. I think... I could learn to love him. I think that, given the chance, we would love one another and would be very happy together. I just haven't had the time to yet."

"So what made you do this? It's all pretty extreme for a potential love."

"I suppose it is pretty extreme, but... that isn't the reason I'm here." The princess paused entirely in her task, her gaze resting sadly on the rocky surroundings towering over them, her eyes not meeting Bakura's. "I guess I did it because... because I believed I could make a difference." She laughed quietly, but in a rather subdued manner. "When I put it like that, it sounds stupid."

"It does, kind of." Bakura looked to Mana, attempting to read her mood. He was slightly unnerved; he hadn't seen Mana this vulnerable since... he couldn't remember when. She had always had that annoying, rather enthusiastic or irritated attitude to her. He couldn't remember her ever bringing up her past either. "Princess, you are royalty... Surely you can click your fingers and the servants will be falling over themselves in haste to serve you."

Mana laughed again. "Right, because _that's_ making a difference." Her voice became bitter. "Ra, I couldn't even choose my own husband; what makes you think I'd have the power to make any real changes?"

"I thought you said you could learn to love Atem?"

"Yes, but..." She shook her head. "I would have liked to have had some say on the matter. My father and Atem's met for political discussions, wanting to bring our two kingdoms together – and what better way than through marriage? Anyway, my role was always to be married off to some other royal for connections; I suppose I should count myself lucky that Atem is a likeable guy my own age. You see, it was my older brother, Mahado, who would inherit the throne. That makes me pretty expendable, unless something happens to Mahado. In which case my husband would take the throne, and I wouldn't be any better off anyway."

Bakura paused to consider Mana's words. "Sounds like a pretty boring life."

"It's been the plan for as long as I can remember," Mana replied bluntly. "Marry another royal, settle down, be the perfect wife... You come to terms with it after a while."

"Why don't you run away then?"

Mana looked to Bakura with disbelief. "With you?"

Bakura looked flustered. Mana even believed she saw the beginnings of a blush. "I didn't mean... I meant... just leave it all behind," he eventually spluttered. "Just run away one night and disappear into the crowd. The world is a big place, believe me, princess," he added, more composed this time.

"But I... I can't. It would be deserting my own kingdom... my father... my brother... everyone who has expectations of me..." Mana stumbled. "I couldn't just abandon everyone. It wouldn't be the right thing to do."

Bakura smiled wanly. "I should have guessed you would be too noble to take that suggestion." He got to his feet, picking up the few containers he had actually filled. "Come on, princess, time to head back to camp. The sooner we head off, the sooner we can find Apep's shrine and find the Puzzle. That's all you're here for, after all."

Mana collected the rest of the water holders, carefully scanning the thief's face. There had been something in his voice that was unfamiliar. So unfamiliar that it took her the entirely of the walk back to place it.

It was sincerity.


	10. Monotony, Snakes and Harpies?

**A/N: Sorry for the delay; the internet completely collapsed on me. I haven't been able to get it working for the past week! *cries gently* Anyway, thank you to all my still-loyal (hopefully) reviewers who reviewed last week: _Kiterious_, _YamiBakura1988_ and _Aqua girl 007_! Hopefully this chapter will make up for the chapter-less week you've endured!**

**LadyCathy. x**

**ooOoo**

Chapter 10: Monotony, Snakes and... Harpies?

Three days of travelling passed by. The scenery changed – from canyon, to forest, to villages and back to canyon – but little could break the monotony of the journey. Even Marik's slowly weakening attempts at humour did little to alter the tedium.

Day four after the conversation by the river arrived and Bakura found himself at the receiving end of the boredom. Bakura woke late that morning; by the sounds of things, people were already up and about and were getting chores done without him. That was fine. That meant less work for him and less time spent in Mana's presence.

Not that he disliked Mana. He just wasn't sure where they stood anymore.

It had been a lot easier when they had just hated each other.

Something rustled the corner of his tent; he ignored it and continued to slowly rouse himself from the realm of sleep. He supposed he should make an appearance. Then again, he was quite happy to leave that moment to a later time, allowing him a few more minutes of blessed peace.

Unfortunately, his 'blessed peace' was interrupted by something slithering across the sandy floor of his tent and moving over his feet. He froze, his mind whirring away at the contact, and slowly moved his upper body so he could see whatever was slinking over his ankles.

It was scaled.

And it was hissing.

Bakura moved incredibly fast for one still embracing the lull of sleep; he stumbled out of his bed, kicking the covers away and getting as far as bringing a cloak around his shoulder for additional protection before finding himself staggering out of his tent. On exiting his tent, he almost rammed straight into two individuals standing outside.

"What's the matter, Bakura? Something give you a scare?" Marik smirked at his friend.

Bakura, however, only glowered. He now became painfully aware of what he must look like; bedraggled with the hazy veil of sleep clouding his features and running like Apep had just appeared before him. His glower intensified as a niggling seed of suspicion settled inside. "Marik, if you're going to tell me that you let that... that..."

"Snake?" Mana offered. She was standing beside Marik, mirroring the other's grin with uncanny expertise. Bakura quickly came to the conclusion she had spent too much time around Marik; a conclusion he had suspected at Mana's first use of the phrase 'binky boy'. Mana grinned again, this time looking more like herself. She still looked much too mischievous for his liking. "Why? You're not _scared_, are you? It wasn't even a poisonous one."

"I told you – I don't like snakes."

"Or things with tentacles," Mana added. "Yes, I know."

"We would have gone with the tentacle thing, but a snake was easier to find," Marik admitted shamelessly.

"Oh, stop glaring, Bakura," the princess sighed, rolling her eyes at the thief. "We needed a way to get you up and it was just too tempting to resist. It worked, didn't it?"

Bakura struggled to find a suitably expressive retort to illustrate his displeasure; eventually he gave up, admitting that his sleep-addled mind wasn't awake enough yet. He contented himself with another glower before slouching back inside the tent to start packing stuff away before the day's travel. Mana and Marik didn't have to wait long before the scaly body of a snake was brutally thrown through the tent entrance.

Mana grinned at her fellow conspirer. "Should we have sunk to that level of entertainment?"

Marik laughed. "Not feeling guilty, are we?"

"He's going to be a foul mood for the rest of the day, you know that."

"Pfft, like that's going to make any difference."

Abruptly the monotonous tedium that had been bearing down upon the group for the last three days was broken by an ear-splitting screech shattering the air. Or several, to be exact. The group balked at the noise, scattering in a disorganised fashion until one pointed up at the sky, still yelling. Mana turned her gaze heavenward, then numbly tugged at Marik's sleeve. "Um, Marik?"

Marik had already unsheathed a blade; the princess couldn't be just a little surprised at the readiness in the action. "Yeah?"

"Um, you might want to look up."

Marik slowly obliged. His complexion paled. "Oh."

"Yes. 'Oh.'"

"Run?"

"Yes... Yes, I'd say so." She started to sprint out of the camp, but dragged herself to a halt beside Bakura's tent. "Bakura! You in there?"

The white-haired thief appeared at the entrance, wielding a variety of weapons. A sheathed blade was tossed to the young woman; she caught it awkwardly with both hands. "Just stocking up. You know how to handle a sword, right?"

"Not particularly," Mana admitted. "I think my parents failed to include it in the 'princess lessons'."

"Right. It's simple enough; even your highness should be able to get the hang of swinging a blade." He smirked, despite the situation. "Just try not to take off anyone's head."

Mana grinned back. "No promises."

Marik looked torn between running for cover and reminding his friend to start running too. "Hey, guys? Run. Please."

"Oh, right." By the looks of things, there were several caves located in the side of the canyon; it was these spots where the other thieves had taken cover. Following suit, Marik, Mana and Bakura found safety in a nearby cavern. Bakura could be heard to mutter about 'more ruddy caves'.

"Hey, Mana; you knew what the cockatrice was, didn't you?" Marik asked. The three were alone in that particular cave, but they could see others hidden away in other cave entrances. They couldn't see the creatures, but they weren't sure whether to be pleased or worried by that.

"Yes. And?"

"Any idea what those things were?"

"I didn't really spend that much time looking at them..." Mana confessed. "To be fair, I was much busier running. But," she added, after seeing Marik and Bakura's expression – and Bakura instinctively beginning a sarky response – "I think I've heard of them before. They're harpies. Bringers of death."

"Bird-women, right?"

"Yes – bird-women, as you put it, with beaks, wings and claws. They're fast and I've also heard their feathers can't be pierced by any weapon..."

"Great. So how do we kill them?" Bakura demanded.

"How should I know?"

"You're the one with all the knowledge on these creatures–"

"From myths," Mana curtly reminded him.

"Very well then; what do the myths say?"

"I don't think I've ever heard of a harpy being killed in myth..."

Bakura uttered several choice curses. "_Great_. Just great." All three shied away as more screeching filled the air. They all raised their weapons; Mana more shakily than her companions. "So what do we do?"

"I don't know."

"Don't the myths give any indication of how to deal with harpies?"

"The only one I think is the one where they trap them... but I can barely remember how..."

"Ruddy lot of good you are," Bakura muttered. Keeping his sword raised, he gingerly approached the entrance, peering out as he noted the distinct presence of the harpies' screeching. But the creatures themselves were not in sight. By the sound of things, they were scavenging their way through the camp's resources.

"Where are they?" Marik had joined Bakura's side, looking out to the harpy-less sky and then to the harpy-infested camp.

"Round the camp." They could see the outside of the camp, but the tents curved round in a loose circle, limiting their view of the harpies themselves. They glimpsed the occasional blackened wing, but no more.

"Well, what are we going to do?" Mana whispered. Bakura couldn't help noticing that she was grasping the blade's handle awkwardly in both hands. Note to self: give the girl some lessons in brandishing a sword. Assuming they got out of their current situation reasonable unscathed, that is. "I mean, that's all our supplies," she added, nervously standing at the entrance beside the other two. "It's a good two days' travelling to the previous village if we want to restock – which we will have to if we don't stop them soon – and we're running out of time."

"There might be another village ahead," Marik suggested.

Mana shook her head. "The last villagers said that this canyon is meant to be haunted. It didn't sound like there were any settlements out here, so..."

"So you're suggesting we should scare the harpies off?" Bakura demanded. "Princess, I admire your gutsiness, but you're bordering on madness."

The other thief grinned. "Sounds like the pot's calling the kettle black."

"Shuddup, Marik." Bakura glowered at his friend – soon-to-be ex-friend, if he weren't careful – and shifted his hold on his weapon.

"I was serious with my question. What are we going to do?" Mana insisted.

"Well, I'm quite happy to wait for the harpies to leave."

"Coward."

"Survivalist," Bakura corrected.

"They'll have ripped the camp apart..."

"Would you rather they ripped _you_ apart?"

Mana closed her mouth, her lips thinning into a tight line. "I'm thinking of Atem."

"Oh, it's always Atem, isn't it?" Bakura snapped irately.

"Two days travelling back to the last village will use up two thirds of our remaining three days. There's no way we'd find Apep's shrine before we would have to turn around to make it back to the capital. And trust me on this;" Mana growled, turning to the white-haired thief, "if we don't reclaim the Puzzle, I'm dragging your sorry behind back so you can take Atem's place. So it's in your own interest that we don't get delayed."

"Perhaps she's got a point–"

"Shuddup, Marik," Bakura repeated. When had Marik started to disregard his opinion so often? Bakura was tempted to lay the blame on Mana, but, if truth be told, Marik had never bothered to hide his thoughts or even be vaguely subtle. It certainly wasn't a new development.

Mana was getting fidgety though. "Ra, I'm not going to stand around here doing nothing," she muttered. "We've got to do something."

"Do you plan on taking the harpies on singlehanded?" Bakura asked sarcastically.

He immediately regretted that comment.

Mana grinned at the thief; the action didn't reach her eyes. "At least I'll have tried." She broke from the cover of the cave and dragged herself to a halt behind one of the tents.

Marik was staring. "She's as mad as you."

"_Thanks_, Marik."

"She's not seriously stupid enough to try scaring off those creatures. Is she?" His last question was sincerely directed to Bakura, with the sudden and irrepressible seed of doubt clouding his judgement.

"_I guess I did it because... because I believed I could make a difference."_

Bakura grimaced at the memory from the riverside. "Yes, she bloody is."

"We should help her, shouldn't we?"

"If she's stupid enough to run out into a harpy-infested camp..."

"Bakura..."

Bakura glared at his friend. "If we die..."

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard that before. Come on; I guess the lady needs some backup." Marik idly moved his grip on his weapon and abandoned his cover to join Mana. Glancing once heavenwards, in a 'why me?' action he followed his companion, cursing his not-so-lucky stars as he darted across the all-too-wide distance.

"Princess, are you _trying_ to kill us all?"

"I didn't ask you to help," Mana reminded him curtly.

Another thief joined them, a bow slung over one shoulder and a sword in his hand. Mana recognised him as Rishid – she found she could name most of the thieves after the week and a half spent in their presence. "Please tell me this isn't another of Bakura's mad schemes."

"Why is it always _my_ mad schemes?"

"Actually, its Mana's," Marik supplied, ignoring their leader's irate comment.

The newcomer looked to the princess. She felt it necessary to explain her logic; by the end of the explanation, the thief looked vaguely satisfied.

"And, if she's correct, we can't even pierce their feathers with our swords," Bakura complained. "Of course, we don't know whether she _is_ correct..."

"We're going on the assumption that the _myths_ are correct," Mana retorted. "And at least I know something about them – which is a great deal more than you–"

"Look, _princess_..."

"Why don't we just attack the non-feathered parts?" Rishid offered flatly, evidently not amused by the pair's bickering. "Like the head and neck, for instance."

"Great, but how do you suggest we do that?" Bakura questioned in an equally flat tone. "The creatures will either fly out of reach or attack with their talons the moment we try to spear them with our weapons. And I'd rather not be torn to shreds, especially not on a stupid mission like this."

Mana, however, had been eyeing Rishid's bow. Clogs were turning. "We don't have to use swords," she suddenly said. She pointed to the man's bow. "If we can get the creatures out into the open, Rishid can take them down with his arrows."

Bakura sneered at the young woman. "And, pray tell, princess; how are we going to get them out into the open?"

ooOoo

On reflection, perhaps it wasn't the smartest question Bakura could have asked; he should have realised it was simply begging to be instantly volunteered. And while he didn't disapprove of the diversion tactic – he had often left diversion tactics to his two second-in-commands during many plots and ploys – it was the first time he had been a diversion himself.

He wasn't happy.

But, then again, Rishid was the best with the bow. That left very little room for debate.

He had, however, sent a quick command to Mana to stay behind the tent and keep out of the way. The last thing he needed was the meddlesome princess getting killed or kidnapped – and, since she was a princess, that was bound to happen – and Mana had accepted that order. Grudgingly, he had to admit, but she didn't look like she was about to do anything stupid. Yet.

So here he and Marik were, running out into the centre of camp, waving arms about like drunken fools and throwing whatever insults came to mind. Not their most inventive diversion by any stretch of the imagination, but it certainly gained the harpies' undivided attention.

A little too well, for Bakura's liking.

There were four of the foul creatures. All scavenging their way through the camp, leaving mess and devastation in their path, but upon the two humans' approach, they stopped. All about seven feet high – taller than the average person – but their size was exaggerated by the warped, black-feathered wings sprouting from their backs. Rustling, twitching, responding to every emotion that flitted through their minds. And sharp faces – angular features, with sharp, glaring eyes pinpointing the humans – but all of indefinite age. Sometimes they looked young and almost beautiful, other times they looked haggard and repulsive.

The nearest one landed awkwardly on the ground; Bakura couldn't help noting that despite their human body, their feet were taloned. Undeniably bird. Black wings rested idly by its side, blocking Rishid's line of fire. This harpy's hair was sleek, black like its feathers; its face looked almost young and beautiful. And cruel. The thin line where its mouth resided twisted upwards to form a predatory grin.

"Well, look what we have here, sisters. Seems like a couple of mortals want to spoil our fun." It – she, for it, along with its companions, was evidently a she – laughed. The laugh didn't fit the face though; it was too old, too crackly, too close to a crow's cackling for it to be a young woman's laugh. The other harpies' laughter were uncannily similar. "It's been a while since any mortals travelled through this canyon – too long."

Both Marik and Bakura were a little thrown off track by the creature's comment. Not that they misunderstand what she was saying. They just hadn't been expected to hold a conversation with a harpy.

"Now, I didn't like the insults you were hurling our way..." The harpy clicked her fingers, showing her long, sharpened nails for the two humans to see clearly. "What was that about our mother?"

Drat. And the vulture insult had seemed like such a good idea at the time.

Both men pointed to their companion. "It was him."

The creature laughed again, rounding on the two uncomfortably humans. "How... painfully predictable... Either way though, it doesn't matter. You will both die."

'_Damn it, Rishid. Shoot already!_' Bakura's blade seemed particularly flimsy when facing the bird-women; the knowledge that it wouldn't even pierce the feathers did little to soothe his worries. But the wings were still obscuring the archer's aim.

Another harpy joined her companion; this one had a mess of blonde curls falling about her face, trailing down her back and falling against her blackened wings. "We haven't had any mortals here for so long," she hissed, her angular eyes glittering with anticipation. "Let's make their death a slow one, sister. I want to scratch out their eyes."

The other two harpies landed heavily beside their sisters, loudly voicing their complaints. Evidently who got the honour of dishing out certain damage was going to be hotly debated. Marik and Bakura looked vaguely pale; Bakura admittedly more than Marik – he had already suffered the fear of being blinded. It wasn't an experience he hoped to repeat. Some of his cocky sureness returned to him though, leading him to clap his hands together to reclaim the creatures' attentions. "Now, now, ladies; if our presence is going to cause such a ruckus, perhaps we should be going..."

He turned to leave, but the dark-haired harpy moved round fast enough to block them both. "Not so fast... No one crosses our path and gets away with it..."

The blonde harpy moved so it towered beside her friend. "I want the eyes, sister," she snarled, eyeing the two men's faces.

"Patience, sister. We will all get our fun..." The harpy – who appeared to take role as the leader – smirked at the trapped humans, showing a selection of sharp, needle-like teeth. "There are so many ways to kill... It's difficult to choose which one..."

"I won't kill them," the blonde replied, her own eyes glittering with what was recognisably bloodthirsty urges. "Just maim them a bit. The rest of you can kill them."

The other two harpies joined their sisters; a redhead whose eyes were sunken in a sign of age, but whose the rest of the face was as young as the others, grinned wanly. "I've heard that some cultures have a method called quartering... You take a limb each and tear the victim apart..."

The last one, a brunette with wide, almost innocent eyes, stared at the humans. She tilted her head to one side in a curious fashion. "I like watching them fall," she stated bluntly. Her voice sounded younger than the others, which made the sadistic comment sound even more wrong. "You carry them up to the sky and drop them..."

"That's over too quickly–"

"But the screaming's good–"

"What about bleeding to death?"

"That's so messy."

"Exactly."

The harpies crowded closer, ruffling their wings and raising them into the air as they fought to make themselves heard. Feathers started to fly as they argued over their course of action. A scream filled the air – shrill, bird-like – and one of the harpies – the redhead – fell to the ground. An arrow pierced its unprotected neck. It twitched and went still.

"More! There are more of them, sisters!" the leader cried. "More humans!" The harpies scattered; the leader went for Rishid's hiding place, the brunette went to drag Marik off the ground and the blonde, nails drawn, went for Bakura. Another arrow was fired; the brunette harpy fell to the ground, dropping Marik in the process. Marik gingerly got to his feet, bearing his sword in the action, and went for the harpy that had reached Rishid.

Mana was kneeling, terrified, at her post behind the tent. She could see the harpy snatch Rishid's bow away from him and throw it away, moving in to take revenge for her fallen sisters. She saw Marik arrive, his blade bared, and support his friend, although neither could reach any vulnerable points with the harpy flying above them. But they were managing.

Just.

She turned her gaze to Bakura; he wasn't doing so well. At some point he had lost his sword, and now was only relying on a dagger to keep the deranged creature at bay. The blonde harpy had cornered him against a tent and appeared to find it very amusing that he believed he could fend it off with only the dagger to hand. The harpy brought one hand towards his face, intent on following her previous threat by the look of things; the dagger only just deflected the blow, but the sharpened nails were still raked across his face, leaving a scar above and below his eye.

Still, at least it missed the eye itself.

Not thinking, Mana reached for Rishid's bow that had been thrown her way. There was no way she could reach Bakura in time, but the bow was a good long-range weapon. Lacking any arrows though, she raced out to the nearest fallen harpy; feeling slightly sick, she forced herself to extract the arrow embedded in its neck. In the same action she notched it into the bow, drawing the string back and firing.

She hadn't expected to hit it. Certainly not kill it. She was aiming for it, but if she could distract it, that would be good enough.

But the arrow did hit the harpy's neck.

Convulsing, it contorted at the blow, screaming like its sisters and dropping to the ground. Dead.

Still breathing heavily, Bakura looked up, expecting to see Rishid as his rescuer. He couldn't stop himself from staring when he recognised the bow-bearer not as his second-in-command, but as Mana. After the surprise had passed through his system, red-headed indignation took over. "Ra, what were you thinking, woman?" he demanded, shouting across at the princess. "If you had missed, you could have hit me instead! Have you even ever handled a bow before?"

Mana spluttered at the accusation. "Out of all the ungrateful, pigheaded, obnoxious...! I just saved your life, you moron!"

Bakura trooped over, slightly embarrassed at the fact that he had needed saving in the first place. And by a _woman_, no less. "I had that under control..."

"If having your eyes scratched out is 'under control' then I'd hate to see what you'd class as 'out-of-control'," Mana snapped back. "Couldn't you, _for once_, just be grateful? Or is your pride too great for you to ever feel the need to thank another human being...?"

"My pride–"

"Is an inflated, egotistical existence," the princess finished sharply.

"Coming from royalty, that's pretty rich."

"And what is _that_ supposed to mean?"

There was shouting coming from across the camp; it was only when it was accompanied by an inhuman screeching that either of them identified it as a warning. Both turned on their heels to see the last harpy – irate with the death of her final remaining sister – diving towards them. It looked like she had abandoned her battle with Marik and Rishid to wreck revenge upon the other two. Mana instinctively started to move the bow before her, but realised she had no remaining arrows to shoot. The bow was still brought before her, but in a defensive manner; with irritation at her own stupidity, Mana remembered she had dropped her sword when opting for the bow.

"_Move_, princess!"

There hadn't been time to move; there had only been time to brace herself for the impact – but another, unexpected, impact came, this one to her side. She was thrown to the ground, hitting the sandy soil and becoming disorientated for several precious seconds. She rolled over onto her other side so she could see what had happened. Her knees had drawn themselves instinctively before her, readying her feet to kick out at anything that tried to go for her, but the harpy's attention wasn't on her.

It took her several more seconds to organise the scene before her, finally realising that the impact had been Bakura shoving her out of the harpy's direct path. He had taken part of the blow – not all of it, for he had moved just out of the creature's direct blow – but enough to leave his left arm scarred and bleeding. His right arm was baring the dagger – looking pathetically small when facing the harpy – and the harpy in question was crouching on the ground to Mana's side. It appeared Bakura's actions had thrown the harpy off course and led her to overshoot her target.

The harpy grinned – this time it was maniacal, dangerous, insane – and lunged for the thief.

Mana found herself getting to her feet, staggering slightly as the disorientation continued to cloud her brain, and her fingers curled around the previously dropped bow. The empty, useless bow.

Bakura jumped back, only just succeeding in deflating the worst of the blow. He was still left with a cut along his shoulder. But, if the fight continued, it was unlikely that it would be the worst he would receive.

Mana was only vaguely aware that she was unsteadily standing at the sidelines of the fight. The bow was still clasped in her hands, now slick with sweat. Something was pounding against her head, urging her to do something, _anything_. And when the harpy next lunged, Mana lunged too. She jumped at the harpy's back, bringing the bow over the harpy's head and around its neck, half-strangling the creature in the action. Instead of attacking Bakura, it staggered back, gargling at its restricted windpipe and attempting to throw its passenger off. Mana saw the world – the sky, the camp, the sandy ground – spinning around in a multicoloured, marbled blur, her fingers already beginning to numb. Black wings thrashed violently around her, bruising and bumping her, jostling her to release her grip.

Eventually her fingers slipped and she felt herself being thrown away. She became aware that she had abruptly stopped; her back had hit something, but the world still seemed to be spinning. Her eyes slowly brought the world back into focus and now she saw something approaching her. Something large, with black, distorted wings surrounding the creature like a feathered aura. The harpy brought one hand to the bow around its neck and snapped it loose. The now-useless bow was discarded to the ground.

"You... you killed my sister..." it rasped. Its voice no longer sounded human, but like something dragged from the land of the dead. From the underworld. "You... and all the other pathetic mortals here... My sisters are dead because of you!" One clawed hand curled around Mana's neck and hoisted her into the air, bringing her closer to the creature's sharp, hateful face. "You will pay... You will all pay..." The other hand traced its long nails along Mana's face, not deep enough to scar or even draw blood, but enough to make Mana flinch away. "I'll scratch those pretty little eyes out first... You don't need to see in order to fear... Hearing the screams is often enough..."

The claws lingered by Mana's eyes even as she scrabbled at the creature's grip, trying to pry herself free but failing. Before the lengthened nails could leave any mark on her eyes though, the harpy twitched. She convulsed back, as if something had struck her, her hand loosening on Mana's neck and eventually dropping the princess to the ground. A sickening, gargled noise emitted from the creature's throat before it finally collapsed.

Mana looked shakily up to see a dagger protruding from the harpy's neck. She looked over to Bakura, who had just thrown the weapon.

"Now we've both saved the other," he said gruffly. "Everyone's even."

Mana smiled weakly. "I guess we are."

The thief walked over to the young woman, kicking the harpy's wing out of the way as he went. Pausing before the princess, he offered a hand. "Come on; I suppose we should assess the damage."

Mana barely hesitated before placing her hand in his; upon trying to rise to her feet though, she discovered her legs were too watery to support her. She almost collapsed down to her knees, but Bakura caught her before she fell.

"Did it hurt you?"

"No..." Mana's cheeks reddened, but at the thought that she could be so weak as to nearly faint from fear rather than from any injury. "I think... I think it's just the shock," she admitted. She waited for Bakura to scoff, but it never came.

"Yes, shock can do that. You'll probably need a drink..."

"I'm fine. I don't need any water."

"I was thinking of something a little stronger."

"Oh. I... No, I'm fine." Mana reddened slightly more. "I'm fine," she repeated. "It's just..."

"Hey, Bakura!" Marik was standing over one of the previously-slain harpies, calling over to his friend. He nudged the creature, causing it to twitch. "I think this one's still alive."

"Kill it. Wait, no." Bakura dragged himself and Mana over to the harpy in question. Mana was set down on the sand several metres away from the creature, while Bakura approached the harpy with caution. The harpy was the brunette one; the one that had sounded the youngest. The one with the scarring sadistic streak that included dropping humans from very tall heights. Bakura bared a dagger – it appeared he had several on his person – and brought it towards the creature's neck. "Answer a few questions and I'll make your passing quick."

The harpy gargled a strangled, burbling laugh; a dying laugh. "I do not fear death... I have seen death in all its glorious forms..."

Mana felt vaguely sick, but apparently she was too shaken for her body to even attempt to throw up.

"Apep's shrine – is it near here?" Bakura demanded. "Answer quickly!"

"Close... Closer than you think," the creature tittered. Its wide, almost innocent-looking eyes rolled in a crazed fashion. "But you can't... You can't get to Apep's realm..."

"I have this." Bakura brought out the golden ring, letting it glitter in the morning light. "It'll let me in."

"Strange... Strange..." the creature repeated. Its head was now lolling from side to side as death approached. "Strange... A mortal has Apep's key... A mortal has Apep's key... What's Apep doing? But mortals will never survive... Will never make it..."

"What? Why?"

"We guard the canyon... My sisters and I... we guard the canyon. But my sisters..."

"Your sisters are dead," Bakura growled. "Are you the guardians of Apep's realm? Do you keep humans away from his shrine – stop people from entering?"

"We are... only one of the guardians..."

"One? So there are more?"

"Only one more..." The harpy's smile stretched all too wide on her thin, dying face. Age lines began to creep across her face, aging her. Death was coming. "The last guardian."

"What is it?"

The same gargled laugh echoed through the harpy's throat. "She'll eat you all... Eat you all... Eat you all... Eat all the puny mortals for breakfast," she cried in a sing-song voice. Another laugh, this one final and ringing, ending with a wheezing last gasp. The wrinkles spread across the harpy's face like spiders weaving an intricate, deep-set web, and the wide eyes glazed over.

Death had claimed the final harpy.


	11. Honesty

**A/N: Thanks so much to my usual crowd of reviewers - _Aqua girl 007_, _YamiBakura1988_ and _Kiterious_ (I can now spell all your names without the need to doublecheck!) - you guys are still so very awesome! Anyway, sorry but future updates are likely to be sparse - seriously sparse - due to the rather important/stressful incident of revision and exams. And I won't be back to normal (whatever that is) until June-time.**

**Sorry, but I hope you can all understand. Updates will still happen, but at a slower rate. So here's some fluff to cheer everyone up!**

**LadyCathy. x**

**ooOoo**

Chapter 11: Honesty

"Ow! Would you please be careful?"

Mana tutted under her breath and moved the cloth away from the wounds. "If we don't clean these wounds, they'll get infected," she informed the thief. The two were by a river, a good five minutes away from camp while Mana cleaned Bakura's injuries.

"I thought you were tending the wounds, not removing several layers of skin."

"Honestly, you're always so melodramatic." Mana wetted the cloth in the river, washing away the worst of the blood and dirt. It wasn't the most hygienic solution she would have liked, but it was the best under the current circumstances. "Please, just let me clean the injury on your arm at least." She grinned ruefully at Bakura. "Or would you like one of your men to clean the wound for you instead? Say, Marik?"

Bakura snorted. "Thanks, but no thanks. Marik has no concept of tending wounds or the like."

"He could surely manage even just cleaning the dirt away?"

"He probably could, but he's equally likely to get distracted when the wound starts to bleed again and use my blood for doodling purposes."

Mana grimaced at the thought. "Tell me he hasn't done that."

"Once. Admittedly that was his own blood and he was _very_ bored, but he still ended up using the blood to doodle along his arm." Bakura laughed, but the action was cut short with a sudden wince as the cloth dabbed at the wound.

"Sorry."

"It's fine."

"You're a worse liar than I am."

Bakura glared at the princess, although it lacked any real venom. "I could take that as a serious insult, you know."

"I'm sure you could." The cloth was submerged into the fast-flowing river once again; the blood and dirt, now lessened in intensity, washed away downstream. With the cleaning of Bakura's wounds, some had reopened, but that was significantly better than letting them get infected. She brought the cloth out and began again to wipe away the remaining dirt, her other hand resting gently on Bakura's shoulder even as he tensed at the pain.

"I suppose... I should thank you," Mana murmured, "for saving my life back there."

"Don't mention it. We're even now."

"You saved my life twice."

"And you saved mine twice." Bakura, through his grimace, attempted a weak grin. "Doubly even."

"I'm trying to thank you," Mana replied. Her voice was still calm; several days ago she would have been irritated at Bakura's stubborn streak, but today she was only grateful. "You might at least be gracious and accept it. And..." she added, stumbling with her words as she struggled to find the right phrase, "you took the blow from the harpy for me. You didn't need to do that."

"What should I have done?" Bakura winced again. Mana withdrew the cloth apologetically.

"Sorry." The princess looked over at the thief, a new expression coming into her eyes. "You could have let the harpy get me," she said softly.

"And then we would have had one dead princess on my hands and then I would have another death sentence on my head." Bakura chuckled under his breath. "Couldn't allow that to happen."

"You could have got killed back there," Mana reiterated, still in her soft tone.

"I think you'll find that's one of the risks with my job."

"Still... thank you."

"I was looking out for myself there you know."

Mana smiled wanly; again, Bakura's stubbornness failed to ignite any irritation. "Would you just accept the thank you?"

Bakura chuckled dryly. "Alright. You're welcome." He watched the young woman methodically work to clean his wounds, dabbing with the cloth, washing the blood and dirt away, and then bringing out the bandages to prevent the wounds from reopening or becoming infected. An air of concentration settled over Mana as she worked; he watched the way her brow furrowed, the way her maple eyes narrowed in focus and the way her lips twitched as she deliberated over the task. In a way... she could even be seen as pretty, he concluded.

Mana's eyes lost a little of their concentration, drifting away to focus on Bakura watching her. She tied the last section of the bandage around his arm and met his gaze fully. "What? Is everything okay? I didn't do the bandage too tightly, did I?"

"You did it fine."

"You know, you better be telling the truth. I don't want to be responsible for your arm falling off."

Bakura laughed, brushing her worries away. "Trust me, I'd tell you if I thought my arm was about to fall off." His laughter died down into a more subtle humour. He looked down at his arm, inspecting the woman's work. "You are... quite unlike any princess I've ever met."

"And how many princesses have you met?"

"You... would be the first," he admitted. "But I know how princesses are meant to act. I've heard enough on my travels."

"Gossip and the real thing are two very different things."

"Sometimes the rumours get things right."

"Only sometimes."

"Still... you are quite unusual."

Mana laughed, rubbing the back of her head nervously. "You wouldn't be the first to conclude that."

"You say that as if it were a bad thing."

The princess only smiled. "For some, it is."

"Any princess who takes on a harpy with nothing but an arrow-less bow is alright in my books."

Mana laughed again. "If only the rest of the world had such a simple quota to fill. Anyway, I couldn't let that creature kill you. Not after you saved my life." She looked to the thief once again. "Did you do that really just to prevent another death threat?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Risking your life to preserve your life..." Mana shrugged. "For some reason, that wasn't how I imagined you did things. No one knows I joined your group to save Atem; why would they lay the blame on you if I died? If I'm to be honest, I thought you were more likely to run when you could."

"You say that because of the situation with Atem?"

"I guess... I guess I do..." Mana sat back, suddenly regarding the thief with a new interest; a question that she hadn't dared to ask before now bubbling up in the back of her mind. "Bakura... I don't want to intrude but... I'm curious. How does a prince end up trusting a thief enough to lay his life on the line?" She immediately reddened. "I didn't mean it to sound like a prince shouldn't trust a thief," she quickly added, "only... it isn't the usual friendship I'd imagine the king would encourage..."

"You've been dying to ask that question for the past two weeks, haven't you?"

"I've been... curious."

"I suppose you were bound to ask sooner or later." Bakura sighed and leant back slightly to survey his surroundings. Before him the river trickled happily away, oblivious to the humans' presences; around him the canyon towered – as tall and as domineering as ever – while, far above, the blue, blue sky floated high above. The noise of the camp had faded into the distance; now the bubbling river was one of the few sounds permeating its way through the rocky environment. "We first met as kids – I had snuck into the royal gardens; I was already a thief – as an orphan, there wasn't much else I could be – and, in my amateurish attempt to pilfer something, I came across Atem."

Bakura rubbed the back of his head ruefully, looking up at the clear sky, as if the blue expanse held the memories he was reliving. "I guess you could say it wasn't the best of first impressions – a habit I still haven't shaken off, it seems. He found me trying to nick off with some silver... just some cutlery that one of the servants had left out, I guess... but he didn't report me. He was stupidly noble, even then, I suppose."

The man paused, still not looking to meet Mana's gaze. Then, "The penalty for thievery is severe here, princess. Caught stealing and, if you're lucky, you'll get off with only a beating. Get caught stealing something valuable or repeatedly and the punishment may be having your hands cut off."

"That's..."

"That's what the law allows," Bakura finished, cutting off Mana's disbelief in mid-flow. "It certainly stops you from thieving again... It also makes it likely that you'll starve on the streets. It's a risk that many have to take. But I guess I have Atem to thank for the fact that I was not caught that day. After that, I grew bolder – I returned; it seemed like a wise thing to do – the palace had many small, valuable items that were rarely missed and could sell for a decent price. Enough to keep me going. I think Atem knew what I was doing, but he never bothered to report me."

"So... you became friends?"

"I suppose we did. We met enough times to start talking – he even taught me to read, while I taught him how to defend himself – a talent you learn on the streets fast or you don't survive at all. We worked well as a team together – when I reached the age where I could legally join the king's guard, Atem tried to talk to his father to allow me to be admitted." Bakura chuckled slightly, shaking his head. "Atem was adamant that I had more instinctive fighting skills than any of the actual guards – he was adamant that I should not spend the rest of my life as a thief. He was wasting his breath though – however good I was, I was still a thief. I still wasn't to be trusted. I overheard the argument between Atem and his father and I realised that I was always going to be seen as just that – a thief. So I ran away."

Mana quietly took in the details of Atem and Bakura's friendship, still trying to understand Atem's deep-founded trust in this thief that almost readily abandoned him to his death. "Did you ever see him again?"

"Not until we clashed over the Millennium Puzzle, no."

"So, why...? What...? How long ago did you run away?"

"Ten years ago? Maybe a little less."

"And you haven't seen each other since?" Mana struggled to comprehend Atem's motivation. "Why did Atem take your place then? Why did he trust you?"

"Perhaps because he's too noble? Too stupid?" Bakura shrugged his shoulders. "Too sentimental?"

"I'm being serious."

Bakura sat back up, leaning forward with one arm resting lazily on his knee as he regarded the young woman at his side. "Alright. When you're a kid, you can be excessively naive. Never really thinking about the practicalities of reality or consequences or status or anything. You meet another kid and, for some reason or another, you just click." His fingers snapped as if to illustrate it; his eyes had trailed out to the river, watching its bubbling progress. "You decide that you're best friends."

"So that was it? You were close friends?"

"Nah, princess; we were best friends. Friendship – association for a reason other than survival – was rare and fleeting on the streets. Atem was one of the few kids who I was comfortable enough to let down my guard. Perhaps the only one. Kids on the street were more inclined to thievery than friendship. As for Atem... I think he was lonely, cooped up in that palace." Bakura shrugged once again. The hand that was not resting on his knees had trailed down to the ground and was proceeding to pick apart a few stray pieces of vegetation. "Whatever the reason, we got along like a house on fire."

The blade of vegetation he had been picking at came loose from the soil. He tore it slowly apart between his fingers before letting the wind snag it away.

"The thing is, princess, we were each others' first friend. First true friend. Time passes and new friends come and go, but nothing quite makes you forget that first friendship. That's why Atem put his life on the line for me. It's why he believed I would return."

Bakura turned the remaining pieces of vegetation over in his hands; now only the roots remained. His fingers curled abruptly around the delicate strands, crushing them into his palm. "He remembers who I once was – he remembers the naive, innocent child I once was, but he was mistaken if he thought that person still remained. Years have passed and life often has a nasty habit of altering its members." He turned his head away. "He was stupid to place his trust in me."

Mana didn't speak for several seconds, and then slowly placed her hand over the one that held the flattened roots. She applied just enough pressure to relieve the tension. "Perhaps he wasn't," she said softly. "You're here, aren't you?"

Bakura smiled only faintly. "Under protest."

"Under bribery," Mana corrected. "Completely different."

"Of course, princess. Truth of the matter is if you hadn't turned up when you did, I wouldn't have bothered. I'm not sure I believe the fact that Atem would take my punishment, but I wouldn't have come all this way on the off-chance. Does that sound like a person Atem should trust?"

"Well..."

"Admit it, princess; you were right in your first diagnosis. I'm just a coward when it comes down to it."

Mana's hand tightened around Bakura's. "It was no coward who took the harpy's blow."

"It was a coward who was quite happy to see an old friend take his place."

"It wasn't the coward Atem saw in you. Atem saw someone in you who he could trust – even place his life in your hands... Atem's judgement must tell you something."

Bakura chuckled dryly. "I guess you haven't been around Atem long enough, princess. Atem likes to see the best in everyone. Even in those who there isn't any good to see." He brushed off Mana's hand, dropping the mashed roots to the ground and moving as if to get to his feet. "I guess we're all done here, right? Wounds dealt with?"

"I suppose so. Well, I've done my best." The conversation appeared to be over. Mana got to her feet, brushing off any possible specks of dirt off her clothes, in more of an instinctive action out of any reason. She paused and looked to Bakura, who also had risen to his feet. "I suppose lunch will be being served. Are you coming?"

"I think I might stay out here for a little longer. But you go ahead. I'm not really that hungry anyway."

Mana hesitated, her fingers fiddling with a ring on her left hand as she observed the thief. "Bakura..."

"Go. If you're too late, there'll be no lunch left."

Still the princess hesitated. After several seconds of deliberation, she moved forward and placed a swift, chaste kiss on his cheek. "There is goodness within you," she whispered. "Atem believed it and so do I." Then she was moving away, disappearing back on the route to the camp, leaving the bewildered thief at the river.


	12. Final Preparations

**A/N: Thanks again to you wonderful reviewers - _Aqua girl 007_, _Kiterious_ and especially the new reviewer, _Yb_. As always, you are amazing and thanks so much for all your patience! I know I haven't updated in a while and I'm afraid the situation's not going to get any better any time soon but I hope you have the continued patience to stick by this story.**

**Many thanks,**

**LadyCathy. x**

**ooOoo**

Chapter 12: Final Preparations

"So do you have any ideas on the final guardian?"

Bakura scowled as he passed Marik, taking a seat beside Mana while he passed her a bowl of dinner's soup. "How is the princess supposed to know that?" he demanded. "It wasn't like the harpy gave much to go on."

"Alright. Keep your hair on. I was only asking because she knew what the harpies were."

"And the cockatrice," Mana added absent-mindedly. She blew on the soup and cautiously took her first taste. Usually it was fine, but there had been a few occasions when it had left something to be desired. She paused, aware that Bakura had just tried to defend her. She swallowed her mouthful and grimaced. Not the best soup she'd tasted... "Sorry. Anyway, Bakura's right – the harpy didn't say very much."

"Aren't there guardians in mythology?" Marik persisted.

Mana snorted in a very unladylike fashion. "There's a long list. I think slimming it down to the point where we can predict what to expect isn't a particularly realistic feat."

"If you say so. The harpy said it was a she though."

"And that it was going to eat us." Mana stirred the surface of the soup in a vain hope the action would magically improve the flavour. It didn't. "And it was at death's door – I wouldn't put too much store by its words. Anyway, knowing it's a _she_ doesn't narrow the list down that much. Now, if it were a _he_, we could strike off harpies, sirens, witches, banshees, gorgons... There are more solely female creatures than you'd expect." She made as if ticking off the list on the brim of her bowl, tapping her spoon against it as she catalogued the creatures.

"So your points are invalid, Marik." Bakura took particular joy in telling his second-in-command and close friend that he was wrong. Perhaps more than was morally acceptable for a friend, but Marik would probably feel exactly the same if the roles were reversed so he didn't feel that guilty for it.

"At least I'm trying to be helpful. And the harpy's word is the best thing we have to go on."

"It was dying. It probably didn't know what it was saying."

Marik only shrugged. "At least it seemed to have _some_ idea about Apep's realm."

"Can we let the subject drop?" Mana suddenly asked. She placed her bowl to the side, the soup only half-eaten. "Anyway, I'm not hungry anymore. There's some soup left if anyone wants seconds." She rose abruptly to her feet and drifted across the camp, pausing by the outskirts, away from the campfire.

Marik glanced to Bakura and unsubtly motioned with his head towards the girl.

Bakura didn't move. "No."

Marik repeated the action.

"No."

"I'll tell Rishid."

"That's blackmail."

"Hey, it works, doesn't it? Ra, just go and talk to her. She won't bite."

Bakura scrutinized Marik, as if trying to establish whether he would follow through with his threat. Rishid was a lot better at the guilt tripping than Marik; he would undoubtedly make Bakura feel as if were responsible for the entirety of Mana's emotional wellbeing. He decided Marik probably would sink as low as to involve the other second-in-command in their debate. He groaned and pushed himself to his feet. "Alright, I'll ask her what's up. But next time it's your turn."

Marik only grinned innocently – or as close to innocently as he could manage, unfortunately Bakura knew better. "Why would I do that when you're finally learning to talk civilly to the girl?"

"Don't make me take back my decision." But Bakura headed out to the outskirts of the camp all the same, pacing himself so he slowly came alongside Mana. "Hey, princess; what's on your mind?"

Mana didn't reply immediately; her gaze was drifting out into the world before her, where the sun was slowly sinking over the horizon. The harpy incident had occurred that morning, now a day had passed by and the canyon environment hadn't changed in the least. They had two days left to find Apep's shrine and already Mana's mind had returned to brood over the subject. At least, that was what Bakura supposed was troubling the princess.

"I used to watch the sunset back home."

Alright, so maybe the Apep subject wasn't on her mind, Bakura amended. He waited for her to add something to this statement. After a few moments, she obliged.

"My kingdom was less desert and more forest than here," she quietly added. Her arms were curled around her waist, in the form of a lonely hug. "Just another thing to adapt to the idea of marrying Atem, I suppose. Still, I'm going to miss my homeland forests. At least I still get to see the sunset here, even if it isn't in the forest."

"I don't know what it looks like in your homeland, but the sunsets are beautiful here," Bakura offered gently. "You should watch the sun set over the desert horizon... It is something quite spectacular."

Mana chuckled, although the sound didn't contain her usually gaiety. "You're not someone I would expect to watch the sunset, Bakura."

"Just because I don't watch it for the sake of it doesn't mean I can't appreciate it. What do you take me for – a barbarian?" He waited for her to chuckle or affirm his comment or something of the like, but all Mana achieved was a watery smile. It flickered before eventually dying down into a more serious expression. Sombre, even.

"I once did, you know. I judged you wrongly, though."

"Hey, princess; there's no need for all that." Bakura waved the murmured apology away. "All forgotten. And you wouldn't be the first one to make that assumption. I doubt you'll be the last, either."

"It irritated you – back in the cockatrice cave," Mana replied uneasily. "I played up on the stereotype, and you... well, you responded pretty bluntly to that. I intended to apologise but I... I chickened out."

It took Bakura several seconds to recall the discussion she was referring to. '_Ra, she still remembers that?_' He shook his head. "All in the past."

"I still feel guilty for it. It was... unkind of me to judge you so quickly."

"Forgotten," Bakura replied. "Ra, it wasn't the worst accusation I've had thrown my way. I let most of it wash over me; it doesn't need thinking about."

"But you do care. Otherwise you wouldn't have lashed out the way you did."

"I was unnerved by your recount of a dead man in the cave. That was all it was."

Mana didn't look convinced, but she let the subject go. "I'm also... unnerved by the harpy's comments," she finally admitted. "I hadn't thought about it, but of course there's likely to be a guardian. There's likely to be other barriers or traps Apep has put in place to prevent someone from just wandering into his realm."

Bakura snorted, rolling his eyes. Finally the topic had taken a less personal turn. "I got the impression that Apep wasn't one to put too much security into his front gate. Mind you," he added, rubbing the back of his head in a thoughtful manner, "I also got the impression he'd probably find it funny to watch a mortal fall into a trap he'd set."

"He certainly had enough fun setting you up," Mana agreed.

"So you believe me now? You believe that Apep is responsible for this?"

"I believe that Apep's shrine is around here somewhere... and that you must have met him to have gained that ring... or key, as the harpy called it. Assuming you didn't steal it, of course." She grinned a little ruefully, regaining some of her previous spark. "Anyway, the ring is leading us to _something_."

"Let's just hope Apep isn't leading us on a wild goose chase of sorts."

"Indeed." Mana's previous spark slipped back into a mask of barely-suppressed worry. "Do you think the harpy was right? Do you think Apep's shrine is nearby?"

"I hope so. I wish we weren't cutting it so close, but if the harpy was right then perhaps there's still a chance."

"I hope so," Mana echoed. She glanced back out to the horizon, where the sun had slipped over the edge and only a few remaining rays of sunlight could be seen filtering over the sky. It was beautiful – a very different sunset to the forest one she knew so well and loved – and yet, right now, it only served to remind her of the time that was so rapidly running out, like grains of sand through an hourglass. Slipping through their fingers.

"Bakura..."

"Hm?"

Mana's gaze flickered to the dying sun then down to her feet, examining the intricate details of the mussed soil beneath the soles of her boots. "If... If..." She brought her eyes abruptly up to meet Bakura's as she struggled with her words. "If we don't get the Puzzle... If we can't get it back from Apep... If we fail..." Her eyes locked on his, seeking the truth, but wavering as if she wasn't sure what the answer she wanted was. "What are you going to do?"

"Are you asking if I plan on returning to take my punishment?"

Mana hesitated, then nodded.

Bakura didn't reply immediately. It would be so easy – so quick – to side with one answer or the other. So easy to sound as noble as Atem and say yes. So easy to scoff and shake off the question as if it were stupid. So easy to roll his eyes and say no. But, for once, he lingered over his response. "I... don't know."

Mana broke the eye contact, looking back down at her feet. Her expression was unreadable.

"I'm sorry if that's not the answer you wanted–"

"No." Mana found the strength to pick her gaze up and meet Bakura's eyes once again. "No," she repeated, firmer this time. "It was an honest answer. I can't ask anything more from you."

"I guess you were hoping that I would repay my debt to Atem," Bakura commented. "I'm sorry, but I'm not as noble as he is. I will never be. And, right now, I don't know whether I would return to take my punishment or whether I would run. Like always. I guess you would rather I died instead of Atem anyway..."

"He doesn't deserve death," Mana agreed. The beginnings of sadness pricked the corner of her eyes, laced with a sincerity that had remained with her throughout the day. "But neither do you." She looked away, shaking her head as a dry, pained chuckle escaped her lips. "Perhaps a slap every now and then to keep your manners civil, but not death."

A smirk tugged at the corners of Bakura's lips. "Aw, come on, princess; don't admit that you're actually fond of me now."

"I'm not afraid to admit that I am. Even if you are an idiot at times."

"An idiot? Me? Princess, what kind of thief do you take me for?"

Mana was smiling a little ruefully – but at least she was smiling once again. "One I've become fond of. Thanks for cheering me up, Bakura; I needed it." She turned to go, but paused before she left. "And, Bakura? Could you call me Mana?"

Bakura smirked, this time wider, and gave a mock salute. "Sorry, princess. Some habits die hard."

Mana only smiled sadly and returned to the interior of the camp.

"It took her some guts to say that." Rishid came from the side – his tent wasn't near the middle of the camp, but was more often than not on the outskirts – and joined his friend. "You shouldn't have refused."

"And how long were you listening in?"

"Only for the last part." Rishid didn't feel inclined to specify which part of the conversation started with 'the last part'. "My point still remains – you shouldn't have blown her off so readily."

"What, Rishid? Are you saying I should start calling her Mana too?"

"The rest of us do. What have you got against it?"

Bakura huffed and kept his gaze solidly on the twisting canyon before him. It seemed a safer bet than meeting Rishid's sincere expression. "So I should call her Mana? Like we're equals or something?"

"Mana treats you like an equal." Rishid paused as he considered the inaccuracies of his statement. "Well, now she does. I don't think she cares too much anymore about status. And what would be so bad about being equals?"

"It just ensures I remember the situation," Bakura murmured. He picked a pebble off the ground and rubbed it smooth against the palm of his hand. The scratchy, rough surface helped to distract his mind from whatever turmoil it was immersed in, providing a blessed distraction.

"What specific situation?"

Bakura opened his palm and regarded the pebble. It looked so dull, so ordinary. Nothing like the glittering gems so sought after by the royalty and upper classes. "That she's a princess fated to marry a prince. Fated to marry the prince who I once considered my closest, truest friend." His fingers curled back around the pebble, hiding it from sight. "That situation." He drew his hand back abruptly and tossed the pebble out, watching it skid across the unremarkable earth until it skidded to a stop alongside pebbles just as dull as itself. Falling into a crowd of identical, unremarkable dullness, where it could barely be made out among its companions. "That whole, Ra-damned situation."


	13. Apep's Shrine

**A/N: Again, sorry for my lateness and lack of response. I get the feeling this message is going to repeated over the upcoming couple of months. I hope this chapter, with its slight plot-movement will be enough to earn your forgiveness.**

**So thanks to all my reviewers for the last chapter: _Aqua girl 007, YamiBakura1988_ and _Kiterious_. Thanks for putting up with my tardiness - thank you to _all_ you other readers (even if you're not reviewing) who are still sticking with this. More Mana-Bakura bickering is ensuing!**

**Many thanks,**

**LadyCathy. x**

**ooOoo**

Chapter 13: Apep's Shrine

"What do you mean you're lost?" Mana made to snatch the ring away from Bakura, but the thief only held it out of her reach.

"I mean what I said." He couldn't resist smirking at her fruitless attempts to steal the amulet off him. He was the king of thieves; did she honestly expect she'd be able to steal something off _him_? Especially when all he needed to do was hold it above her and she wouldn't be able to touch it, let alone snatch it off him. "Look – this ring has been pointed solidly in one direction for the past two weeks–"

"And the fact that has now altered that little fact has thrown you completely," Mana finished flatly. "Evidently that means we're near. Just give me the ring."

"Bah. Women can't even use maps; what makes you think a woman will be able to work a magically, god-given ring?"

"I will slap you."

"Just give her the ring."

"I _don't_ need your advice, Marik."

Rishid walked past Bakura and, using his height to his advantage, easily filched the raised ring. "Perhaps, Bakura, you could accept some assistance, _for once_?" he asked dryly.

Bakura glowered, but knew better than to attempt to steal the ring back, especially when Rishid was probably waiting for him to try such a thing. "Fine. But who says you'll be able to work the ring at all? Perhaps Apep made it so only I could use it..."

Rishid passed the ring to Mana and in her hands the prongs rose to point in the direction of the morning sun. The princess smirked at the fuming thief. "I guess that answers _that_ question."

Bakura refused to dignify that with a response.

"Well, the ring indicates that the shrine is on either side of this canyon..." Mana murmured, pacing before the fork in the path, with the ring's prongs twisting to point towards somewhere in the middle. Not helpful. They hadn't got very far before this complication had arisen; they had barely packed up camp and set off beyond the camp's previous borders. "It would probably be best if we split up and went in two groups along the canyon wall – keep an eye out for any cave entrances or the like; I expect the shrine would have an entrance like that."

To Bakura's acute annoyance, the other thieves actually responded to Mana's instructions, splitting up into two small groups. The thief king stepped forward. "Excuse me? Who's in charge?"

His irritation was only slightly mollified by the others' sheepish expressions. They halted in their actions and mulled about, waiting for new orders to be given. To Bakura's embarrassment, Mana's plan seemed like a valid one.

"Right... well, split into two groups, cover both sides of the canyon. Report back here in an hour if nothing is found. Well, what are you waiting for? Go!" he barked. "And you can stop smirking and all," he snapped to Mana. He snatched the ring off the young woman and stalked down the left path, which only a couple of other thieves, along with Rishid and Marik were heading down.

Mana only smirked to herself and followed suit.

Bakura didn't appear to be in as jolly – or expressive – mood as usual though, preferring to watch the ground travel beneath his feet rather than overseeing the group. His feet kicked against one of the dull, identical stones that he had noted before; somewhere in this crowd of clones was the pebble he had thrown into the mix.

It didn't make him feel any better.

"Bakura... Bakura? Hey, blockhead!"

Bakura snapped out of his thoughts pretty quickly, scowling over at Marik. "_What_, moron?"

Marik smiled sweetly – which was an impressive feat for any known thief, but Marik managed it pretty well – and pointed to the ring grasped almost uncomfortably tight in Bakura's hand. "I'd take another look at your magical whatsit-dodar-thingymobob before taking my head off."

Assuming the 'magical whatsit-dodar-thingymobob' to be the ring, Bakura glanced at the item in his hands. The prongs were pointing to his right, clearly indicating straight into the rock face. Which was devoid of any cave.

"Well, I guess the entrance is on the other side," Marik sighed, shrugging nonchalantly and turning to head back down the path. "There was a one-in-two chance, I suppose."

They started to head back, but Mana hesitated. She tugged at Bakura's sleeve before he could leave. "Um, Bakura?"

"What, princess?"

Mana pointed up, her finger singling out a crack in the rock face. It was undeniably the entrance to a cave.

Bakura only scowled. "So? Who says it's the cave we're looking for?"

The princess rolled her eyes. "You're so unobservant at times. Look to the left of the crack – engraved in the rock. Just... there..."

He squinted and finally made out the detail Mana had noticed. A small, fading image had been etched into the rock – specifically, an engraving of a snake.

"You said Apep was part snake, right?" Mana turned her head partly to see Bakura's response. "I'd say that was a pretty clear sign, wouldn't you?"

Again, Mana was right. And, again, Bakura loathed to admit it.

Instead he only scowled again. "Okay, it's probably worth investigating. Up for a climb, princess?"

"Can you ask a princess to climb a rock face?" Rishid mused aloud.

"Heh, Mana's up for it. Aren't you?" Marik laughed, grinning at the young woman. "After taking on a harpy, this should be easy-peasy, right?"

"Unless you're afraid of heights," Bakura mocked.

Mana pursed her lips. She was infinitely glad of the more masculine clothing she was wearing – even the most practical of her ordinary clothes weren't made for the realities of daily travelling and roughened life, so she had needed to purchase simpler clothing from one of the first villages they passed by. And so, predicting that wearing a skirt or dress, which would be difficult to run in and likely to trip her up, she had opted for the more masculine outfit she wore now.

Still, at least it meant now that she wouldn't have to worry – too much – about being embarrassed while scaling the canyon face. She tackled Bakura's previous scowl with a smirk. "What, Bakura? Worried about getting beaten by a girl?"

"You wish."

"Want to race then?"

Rishid looked faintly disdainful of the whole affair; Marik looked close to joining the race himself, while the other thieves had various expressions of amusement, to confusion, to vague indifference. The cave opening wasn't that far up – a couple of metres, if that – but it would be a nasty fall if either fell. Not that Bakura was likely to fall – he'd been scaling walls and Ra-knew-what since his childhood, but they weren't so sure about Mana.

"I was climbing before you were walking, princess," Bakura scorned, already several feet further than Mana. He paused to glower – or gloat, or perhaps both – with only one hand securing his place on the vertical rock face. "You won't be able to beat me."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Mana gripped a handhold and swung herself up another couple of feet, reducing the distance between them. "Before I was coerced into the aptly nicknamed 'princess lessons', I used to do quite a bit of scrambling and climbing round my homeland forest. It's a knack you don't lose quickly."

"As a pastime though, you can only be so good," Bakura replied breezily. He leant forward, grinning into Mana's face. "I've survived on this skill. Nothing hones a talent quite like knowing it dictates whether you live or die." He swung back, scaling several more feet with uncanny ease; he barely appeared to glance where he placed his hands or feet, seemingly finding footholds instinctively rather than any conscious thought.

Mana, for all her surprising skill, was slower than him. He easily reached the ledge where the cave entrance was located and sat atop it while waiting for his opponent.

"Now do you believe me?"

"Bah." Mana scrambled up the last few feet, clumsier than was probably wise. Her grip nearly slipped, but a hand caught her wrist before she completely came away from the rock. Her fingers curled around the wrist and hand that was supporting her, instinctive, before her mind informed her that it belonged to Bakura.

Her fingers loosened their grip momentarily, faltering with the memory of her original prejudices against the thief, and then the thoughts were discarded with the newer, sharper memories of their time together. Her fingers tightened their grip and allowed Bakura to help hoist her onto the ledge.

"Careful, princess; it'd be a shame to stumble at the last hurdle." Bakura smirked, but something in his expression left the impression on Mana that he had sensed her hesitation. "It'd be a little embarrassing if you survived the cockatrice and harpies, only to fall at a mere rock face."

Mana smiled back tentatively, trying to restore some of her previous tomboy-attitude. "Don't worry, Bakura; I only lost to let you save face." Her grin finally widened to its usual standard. "After all, I have saved your sorry hide enough times over the last two weeks."

"For your information–"

"Ra, can't you accept it graciously yet?"

"Not when I've saved your sorry hide just as many – if not more – times." Deciding this conversation had been heavily repeated – and probably would remain to be so – Bakura turned his gaze to the cave entrance. Now they were beside it, the snake engraving was indeed recognisable; the scales had worn away with time, and patches were chipped away, distorting the smooth, curving outline, but it was definitely a snake.

"Your snake-phobia doesn't extend to carvings, does it?"

Mana received a dirty look for her question, which, she accepted, she probably deserved.

Bakura leant over the ledge, peering down at the small group of thieves below. "Hey, Marik, toss up a torch or something! We'll take a look." The requested item was thrown up to their level with surprising ease; Bakura caught it with an equal lack of difficulty. With a practiced flare, the torch was lit and Bakura peered into the gloomy entrance of the cavern.

"I can't help thinking of the cockatrice cave," Mana murmured, glancing round the thief.

Bakura gave her another look. "You're not helping."

"Just saying." Mana was beginning to wish he'd hurry up and enter the cave; she felt rather precarious balancing on the ridge. She'd stayed still for too long; now the height was slowly creeping up on her, reminding her just how easy it'd be to fall. If she was moving, this wouldn't be a problem. It was just when she stopped climbing that her head actually registered the danger. Her hand curled around the ridge of rock denoting one of the jambs of the entrance, lending her just that extra smidgen of support.

Bakura had only taken half a step inside when a cloud of black, fluttering creatures swarmed out, weaving their way around Bakura, but not hitting the thief. All the same, he instinctively stumbled back, arms rising about face in a protective action. Mana leant forward and caught the front of his cloak before he tumbled back off the ledge.

When Bakura's mind finally registered the absence of the bats, he peeked open his eyes, slowly registering the presence of Mana's hand gripped, knuckle-white, around the clasp of his cloak. She was breathing hard, eyes wide and panicked and all too unnerved.

"What was that about falling at a mere rock face?"

"I wasn't expecting that," Bakura muttered gruffly.

Mana grinned nervously. "Yeah, so I saw." She shifted her weight further back so she could pull Bakura safely back onto the ledge; the ledge itself was a thin wedge of outstanding rock, which meant that in doing so, the thief was brought closer than was expected. Mana coughed and sidestepped into the entrance of the cave, giving her a little more distance.

Below them though, there was some distress spreading between the other thieves. Neither Rishid nor Marik looked worried – Rishid no more than usual, anyway, and Marik seemed to find the whole venture like some game or amusing adventure – but the others looked unnerved. Even from their perch on the ledge, Mana and Bakura could hear them fretting about the dangers of upsetting Apep.

Apparently the bats' unexpected exit had been the straw to break the camel's back, because they looked close to fleeing right now.

Bakura glanced down at his men. "Hey, you lot – go and fetch the others. They can't have got far." He watched them take the order and disappear back down the canyon before looking to the taller of his two second-in-commands. "Rishid – perhaps you better go with them. To make sure they don't do anything stupid."

"And who's going to make sure you don't do anything stupid?"

Bakura only smiled. "You know me, Rishid."

"Yeah, sadly I do."

"It hasn't killed me yet."

"One of these days though..." Rishid only shook his head though and followed after his companions, leaving Marik standing alone.

"Hey, Bakura; should I join you two?"

"Could you stand guard, Marik? I'm pretty certain the last guardian is inside, but I'd rather not be taken by surprise," Bakura called back. "Our resident princess can wait with you."

Mana prodded Bakura's side. "No thanks. If you do get the Puzzle back, I want to be there to ensure you don't scarper with it. Plus," she added milder, "you may need some backup."

"I will not be responsible if you get eaten by the last guardian."

Mana only smiled sweetly. "Yeah, I guessed as much." She swiped the torch off Bakura – which, miraculously, he was still holding – and cautiously peered into the cave's interior. No bats appeared this time. "Heh, I guess we should make a start – we haven't got much time left and if this isn't the entrance to Apep's shrine then we're wasting time." Before Bakura could add his contribution to the discussion, Mana had entered the cave and was taking the valuable source of light with her.

Bakura looked to Marik once more to ensure he would follow through with his instructions, and then hurried after the disappearing princess. She hadn't gone far; she had quickly slowed to a careful, hesitant pace while the cockatrice incident returned to her in full force of memory.

"You alright?"

Mana gave her watery grin to the thief behind her. "I guess I was more unnerved by the cockatrice event than I originally thought. I'm not so good with dark, small spaces as I was before."

"Do you want me to take the lead?"

"If it means you taking the torch, then no." Mana's grip on the light tightened; Bakura could see the already white knuckles pale further still. "Having the light in my control is just about the only thing steeling my nerve." She glanced once again behind her; her face was also pale in the flickering orange light. "I'm not going back though. I was serious when I said you might need some backup."

"No offence, princess..."

"When one starts with that phrase, it usually means you're about to insult me."

"...but," Bakura continued, impervious to Mana's blunt remark, "I don't quite see what situation this guardian is going to pose in which I will need to rely on your help. My fighting skills are more advanced than yours, as is my survival skills..."

"And I am the one with knowledge on myths," Mana cut in. "If I hadn't known about the cockatrice's gaze, you would be stone by now."

"If you hadn't wandered into that cave in the first place, I wouldn't have needed to know about it."

"I saved your skin from the harpies."

"Ditto," Bakura replied dryly. "I see, princess, that this debate has reached an impasse of sorts. Perhaps we should let it drop for the time being. Anyway," he added, subconsciously wincing, "you suffered significantly fewer injuries from saving me than I you."

"Heh, maybe you do have a point." Mana turned her attention back to the dimly-lit route they were taking; the cave corridor was uncomplicated, simple and rather easy to follow. There was little threat of getting lost. "You have to admit though," she muttered; "the scar across the eye looks pretty impressive."

Bakura passed one hand over his right eye. A thin, indented line marked the scar that the harpy had left, passing across the eye but miraculously leaving no damage to the eye itself. Or, if it had left any damage, he hadn't discovered it yet. "You think so?"

"It looks... dramatic. A little bit clichéd," she admitted, shrugging in the dim torchlight, "but dramatic all the same. Just as well, really; it looks like you're going to be stuck with that scar for a while yet."

"Just another scar to add to the continuously growing collection."

The cave was slowly altering around them now; the walls weren't as jagged as before, they were beginning to look vaguely uniform, and the ground was losing some of its unevenness as it levelled out to a smoother surface. Slowly the cave was changing into a corridor carved out of the rock.

"There's just one thing that doesn't make sense," Mana remarked.

Bakura snorted. "Only one?"

Mana ignored him and continued. "We're assuming the cockatrice was set up by Apep to scare off people who were getting somewhat close to his shrine, right?"

"Yeah... And?"

"Well, Apep's god of darkness and chaos, yet the cockatrice's gaze only works in the light. It seems a little... contradictory."

Mana didn't see, but Bakura only shrugged at her worry. "Makes perfect sense to me. The cockatrice's gaze only works in the light, therefore you either live in the light and are petrified, or you surrender to the darkness and only have to deal with the cockatrice's more conventional weapons, like its bite." Again, Bakura shrugged. "I guess it was Apep's way of showing that sometimes the darkness is safer than the light."

Mana walked in silence a little further, mulling over Bakura's answer. Then, "Do you believe that? That the darkness is sometimes safer than the light?"

"For a thief growing up on the streets, the darkness is nearly always safer than the light. What about you, princess?"

"I... I guess I prefer the light. The darkness hides too many secrets for my liking and..." Mana slowly trailed off, staring ahead into the limited sphere of torchlight. "And... and there's some kind of web before us," she added numbly. "A big... freaky web."

Bakura stepped alongside his companion, peering into the inky darkness before them. There was something blocking their way – something that glimmered when the torchlight hit it, something that gently swayed in the slight breeze. By staring at it, he came to the same conclusion as Mana; they were staring at some kind of web. He unsheathed his sword and prodded at the spindly fibres. A few individual strands came away easily, but they thickened further in.

"Are you happy to continue?" Bakura looked to Mana; she still hadn't recovered all her colour. "Princess?"

Mana gulped and shook her head to clear whatever thoughts were clogging her mind. "Yeah, fine. I just... It's just... What kind of spider made that, do you think?"

"The last guardian?" Bakura offered. Mana still didn't look too happy. He was a little surprised at his next revelation; he hadn't guessed Mana to be an arachnophobic. "You're not afraid of spiders, are you?"

"It's a perfectly respectable phobia, alright?" Mana snapped. "Lots of people don't like spiders... I just don't particularly like the way they move."

"You can head back to Marik, if you want–"

"Without a torch, in the dark? Ra, you must be joking. No fear, I'm sticking with you." She took a half step back all the same, leaving Bakura closer to the netting of web before them. "Um, you first."

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Bakura began slicing his blade into the webbing, clearing a slow, sticky path along the corridor. Mana followed him, shaking off any strands that stuck to her; she discovered the web, like a spider's web, was sticky, but also uncannily strong. Bakura was less freaked out by the web, but Mana gained the impression it was partially a subconscious pretence as a response to her overt distaste of it.

The further they got in, the thicker the strands became, up to the point that Bakura was struggling to break through. But suddenly they fell away to reveal the corridor opening up into a wide hall-like cavern.

The shrine.

More web strands hung from the ceiling, the walls and the pillars, aging the cavern, making it look old, forgotten, forbidden. Enveloping it in a muted silence, even the sound of their footsteps were strangely muted, hushed. In the middle, a sarcophagus-like structure rose from the ground, engravings carved on the top. The two humans slowly approached, Bakura with his sword out before him.

"A coffin?" Mana grinned weakly. "What's all that about?"

"Knowing Apep, it's probably just a prop. The first time we met, he pretended I was in the Hall of Two Truths."

"Huh, did you freak?"

Bakura shook his head in a so-so action. "A little, I guess. It's kinda blur now." He tapped the sarcophagus with the blade of his weapon; it sounded hollow at the action. "Yeah, just a prop. I suppose Apep likes the dramatics."

"Like you, you mean?"

"Oh, please; don't alike me to that amateur..."

"Apep? An amateur?"

"Hey, I'm trying to boost my ego here."

"Your ego doesn't need boosting." Mana moved around the room, looking for another exit or something that would indicate how to enter Apep's Realm. The walls were elaborately filled with carvings and pictures, most sticking to the snake or darkness or chaos theme. She rounded back to the coffin in the middle. "Right, so what now?"

"Now?"

"Well, where's the entrance?" Mana glanced down at the coffin, spotting a hollow shape amongst the engravings. She looked to Bakura, her eyes lingering over the golden ring around his neck. "Give me Apep's ring." When the thief hesitated, she rolled her eyes and added, "The harpy called it Apep's key. It must open something."

"Oh, the female is _good_."

Both humans froze. Neither had spoken.


	14. The Final Guardian

**A/N: Thanks to all you lovely readers: _Aqua girl 007_, _Kiterious_ and _YamiBakura1988_! Yeah, updates are going to be super-sparse from now on. And, erm, sorry for being so slow to update, especially when considering the cliffhanger left last chapter. This story won't go on hiatus, it just...yeah, it's just going on the backburner while I panic-revise.**

**Many thanks,**

**LadyCathy. x**

**ooOoo**

Chapter 14: The Final Guardian

"You can't throw your voice, can you?" Mana asked desperately.

"I didn't just then, if that was what you were thinking."

"Yeah, that was what I was afraid of."

The two slowly turned around. Casually resting between them and their exit, was a large...

"Spider," Mana croaked.

"Come, come now; is that any way to address a new acquaintance?" The... creature tutted, grinning at the two startled humans. "I would have at least expected some manners from any humans who had managed to reach as far as Apep's shrine."

It... wasn't a spider. At least, it wasn't _just_ a spider. It was part human – a woman's face was situated where the spider's head should have been; the sharp, female features of the face seemed a stark contradiction to the arachnid body surrounding it. When it grinned, sharp, pincer-like teeth grinned out from its mouth.

"Um, Mana? What is that thing?"

Mana's mouth opened and closed several times, but no words were emitted. Eventually, "I don't know."

"You don't..."

"I don't know, alright?" she snapped.

The creature, however, was sick of being ignored, because at that point web strands appeared from the sides and caught them, heisting them into the air to hang helplessly before it. The creature scurried forward, its all-too-human eyes peering at its captives. Despite the coarse exterior, the creature's voice was smooth, silky even. "Rude, so rude. And after all the restraint I'm having to use to resist eating you right now. You would think a little gratitude wouldn't go amiss."

"No, no; we're very, very grateful," Bakura quickly assured. His smooth talking habits apparently kicked in when danger such as this aroused. "We'd be even more grateful though if we were let go and could just go about our business..."

"Entering Apep's Realm, you mean?" The creature laughed. "Sorry, but I can't allow that. As the final guardian, it's part of my job."

"Can't we come to an understanding?"

"Oh, you are just so full of hot air, aren't you? Alright, I'm feeling very generous today – plus I'm bored. Eating you would be so quick, so why don't we have a little competition – a game, a test, if you will?" Another smile; the pincers became visible, looking too spider-like. "You haven't got anything to lose."

"What's the game?"

"I'll give you a riddle; you answer correctly."

"And if we _do_ answer correctly?"

"Who knows? I might even let you go. Depends how I feel." The same grin.

A gasp caught in the back of Mana's throat; a noise of comprehension, of understanding. Both the other two occupants looked to her with mild surprise; Bakura more so than the creature. "You're a sphinx, aren't you?"

Another, all-too-wide grin.

Bakura wasn't so quick to accept it. "Hang on – I'm not an expert, but even I've seen sphinxes – I've seen the statues and everything – and they're half lion creatures. Not... bugs."

"Oh, the male is _so_ narrow-minded, isn't he?" the creature tutted. The grin this time was directed to Mana, as if sharing a private joke. "So very stuck within the lines. And, for your limited information, boy, I'm an arachnid. Not a _bug_."

"Sphinxes were known for giving riddles," Mana quietly informed her companion. "And, I guess, they could be another half-creature, not just lions."

"Congratulations. Ever heard of the chimera, boy?"

"What?"

"Chimera. _Chimera_, boy. Part lion, part goat and part snake traditionally, but there were other species too. Some chimeras were known for being part monkey or part tiger. My point is that there are variations from the well-known. I'm impressed, girl. Perhaps I will release you if the riddle is answered correctly."

"Oh goody," Bakura muttered.

Mana would have elbowed him if she could have reached him. As things were, she just hissed his name at him before turning to the sphinx. "Please, just give us the riddle."

"Alright. _You can see it, but you can't see it_."

There was a deafening pause.

"That's it?" Bakura reddened, but with ire. "That's the whole riddle? I could mean anything! A... A..."

"A puzzle," Mana offered.

"Right," Bakura agreed. "Or something abstract, like death..."

"Love, friendship," Mana added.

"Sheesh, the friendship option would be cheesy," Bakura muttered. "You cannot expect us to get the answer just from that."

Another grin. Mana was beginning to feel unsettled – more than before – from the grin. "Alright, you can have a longer clue, but only because the female has proven herself to have a brain."

Bakura threatened to splutter protests, but something – either Mana's non-verbal hint or a general survival instinct – stopped him.

"What's the additional clue?"

"_The more you have of it, the less you see it. It cannot be seen, it cannot be felt; cannot be heard, cannot be smelt; only one colour, but not one size, stuck at the bottom, yet easily flies..._" The human eyes glittered. "_What am I?_"

Another awkward pause; this time thought-satiated. Bakura looked to Mana. "Well? Any bright ideas, princess?"

"Why do I have to come up with the answer?"

"Aren't you meant to be the one with a brain?"

"It may surprise you, but you _also_ have a brain – at least a partially-functioning one!"

"Oh, and that's the first time you've voiced that opinion in the last fortnight!"

"Do you need me to tell you that you have a brain?"

The sphinx was chuckling, scuttling closer to the bickering duo. "Oh, I haven't had this much entertainment for a long while... You wouldn't believe how few people ever make it this far..."

"I wonder why," Bakura muttered under his breath. "It wouldn't be the resident harpies on the doorstep that do the trick, do you think? Or the long trek here, or the caves or even the Ra-damn _cockatrice_ we came across a week ago–"

Mana would have prodded Bakura to make him shut up; as things were though, she could only content herself with glaring at her suspended companion. "Could you at least _try_ not to annoy her?" she hissed. "Kind of not in the position to argue."

"I'm always in the position to argue."

"Yeah, because you haven't got the foggiest idea how to keep your mouth shut. How you've lived off your wits all your life is completely beyond me. Could you just help with the riddle already?"

"Well, thanks to your comments, it's already slipped my mind."

Mana opened her mouth to snap a sharp retort, but found that she couldn't recite the puzzle either. She glanced sheepishly to the sphinx; the sphinx smiled that same sickly smile.

"_The more you have of it, the less you see it. It cannot be seen, it cannot be felt; cannot be heard, cannot be smelt; only one colour, but not one size, stuck at the bottom, yet easily flies. What am I?_"

"I still say it's too vague."

Mana, however, was frowning. "Still the sight theme... _less you see it... cannot be heard..._"

"Yeah, yeah, very nice, princess."

The sphinx was still smiling; Mana somehow felt like she'd hit the nail on the head. "Oh, very perceptive. You'd make a good student, girl." She sneered at Bakura. "Much better than the boy, anyway. Such narrow confines of the mind."

"Alright, we've established you think I'm thick," Bakura retorted. "Perhaps Mana can solve the riddle then. Since she's so smart."

"I'm trying, I'm trying," she muttered.

"Try harder then."

"You're not helping." She murmured the riddle over in her head, pausing over certain lines, taking them apart, suggesting an answer and then discarding it when it failed to meet all the criteria. Then, out of the blue, she said, "Name colours."

Bakura blinked. "What?"

"You heard me. Name colours."

"Alright. Red?"

"What would you associate with that colour?"

"I don't know. Anger?"

"Wouldn't fit with '_cannot be felt_.'"

"Okay, do you want me to name another colour?" Bakura demanded irately. "Green – I suppose you can link that in with jealously?"

"Same problem."

"Sea-sickness?"

"Ditto."

"Grass?"

Mana paused. "Same again. I guess the fact it's only one colour isn't much help then. So it won't be an emotion, since all emotions can be felt. I doubt it'll be anything tangible. That leaves... concepts?"

"Great. Just great."

"At least I'm trying," Mana barked. In her irritation, she was causing the spindle fibres suspending her to slowly rotate in the air; the cavern gradually revolving around her in a hesitant circle. "Oh, for goodness sake!"

The sphinx reached out with one thin, black, hairy leg and nudged her back so she was once again facing them. Mana, instead of feeling grateful for the help, only felt vaguely nauseous at the contact. She closed her eyes; it only amplified the sickness at the slow countermovement.

'_And to think I could be safely at the palace right now_,' she thought miserably. '_Instead I'm dangling in the middle of a shrine in the middle of a cave in the middle of nowhere... With one thief and one bored spider... Where did I go wrong?_' She came to the conclusion that everything had gone wrong when Bakura had been dragged into the hall, accused of theft. Everything had gone even more wrong when Atem had taken Bakura's place. And 'frying pan and fire' came to mind when she thought about her own decision to join Bakura's group.

"Hey, princess; you still with us?"

Mana blinked. "Oh... Sorry. I'd just..." She closed her eyes, still feeling uneasy about the whole situation. The ground below her swung lazily from side to side – or was it her who was swinging? – and she tried to concentration on the reassuring null blackness of the back of her eyelids.

Her eyes suddenly flicked open.

Black.

"That's it," she whispered.

"What's it? Princess? Now what are you thinking?"

Mana looked to her companion thief. Her gaze unfocused as she recited the riddle once more. "'_The more you have of it, the less you see it,' _yes, that works..._ 'It cannot be seen, it cannot be felt; cannot be heard, cannot be smelt_,' that too makes sense..._ 'Only one colour...'"_

"Princess?"

"A shadow," Mana breathed. Her eyes locked on Bakura's. "That's the answer. We should have seen it immediately; what with Apep's speciality and all that... The answer's shadow."

"You're sure of that?"

"I... Yes, I'm sure."

"As sure as you were about the cockatrice's immunity to mirrors?"

Mana faltered. "Please just trust me on this."

He observed the brunette; the brunette he'd been stuck with for the last two weeks. The brunette he'd come to know and grudgingly respect over that time. He nodded. "Alright. But if we die..."

"Yeah, I know. I've heard that one before."

The sphinx approached the two hapless humans. "Shadow? That is your answer?"

Mana looked to Bakura. This was his last chance to withdraw. He nodded again. "Yeah, it is."

The sphinx's smile widened; the pincer teeth once again glittered eerily in the dim light of the cavern. For the first time Mana noticed a strange glow around the shrine; emitted from nowhere in particular, but light enough for no torches to be required. Not light enough for the elongated shadows to be discarded though. One couldn't notice the light without noticing the shadows creeping side-by-side along it.

The creature leered before them. Mana wondered how quickly death would come if the sphinx decided to eat them. Probably not quick enough.

The sphinx stepped back.

"Congratulations."

The web released them; Bakura was subsequently dropped on his back. Mana was placed upon the ground with a gentler landing.

"Well, I'm feeling gracious today; I'll let you go free." She paused, then added with a smug, lazy voice, "I must be getting soft in my old age. I'll let you _both_ go free. I was going to snack on the male, but..." She smirked to Mana. "Well, I guess you need someone to bicker with."

Before either could add anything, the creature started to skulk back into the corners of the cavern, receding into a shadow until it disappeared entirely from view.

Her voice floated to them one last time.

"You have ten minutes. After that I may just withdraw my generosity."

Mana looked to Bakura, who looked a little frustrated by the whole affair. "I guess we should get this over and done with then." She opened her palm and turned her gaze to the ring around his neck. Her voice had softened, perhaps with nerves at finally reaching their goal. "Apep's key should do the trick."

Bakura took the ring off his neck and dropped it in Mana's hand. She moved to the coffin and placed it in the indentation so conveniently sized to fit it. Something clicked or shifted, and the mural engraving on the wall before them began to shimmer. Darkness crept across it; snaking tendrils snaked across it, swirling and infesting it until a door of shadows lay before them.

Mana shivered, unsettled by the looming absence in the wall.

"I guess that's the door, right?"

"I guess so."

Bakura stepped up, one hand reaching forward as if to touch it. He hesitated, then swooped a pebble up from the ground. It was smooth and rounded, like the stone he'd picked up before. He hurled it into the black abyss; he supposed he should be relieved that it passed straight through, rather than any... more offensive reaction occurring.

"You're going through, aren't you?"

Bakura gave a reckless, slightly uneasy smile. "After all this, it'd be a waste not to."

"I'm coming too then."

"No." He was surprised at how quickly, how instinctively he responded. He flustered for a moment, then regained some of his usual indifference. "No," he repeated, calmer this time. "You should stay here. I made this happen and I plan to resolve it. There's no point in you putting yourself in danger."

"Are you... worried for my safety?"

"I... No, of course not! I just... think it'd be a good idea to have someone here to keep guard. In case the spider lady shows up again." He wavered again. The darkness to his side rippled, swamping one side of his face in shadow. The side bathed in dim, eerie light looked... uncertain. He walked over to Mana. "Promise me you'll stay here until I return. No trips of your own."

Mana wouldn't meet his gaze.

Bakura brought one hand to her chin and gently lifted her face so their eyes met. "Hey, promise." She didn't respond. "Please, Mana."

Her eyes, blinking, looked strangely vulnerable for a moment. She slowly nodded. "Alright."

"That's my girl." Losing his previous seriousness, a cocky smirk returned to his face as he stepped away and approached the doorway, giving an offhand salute. "If I don't come back, send my regards to Atem."

Mana stepped up before he could disappear through the shifting black veil. Before her mind could rebel against her actions, she placed a quick kiss on his lips. "Send your regards yourself, you thief, because you better be coming back." She hesitated. "And not just for Atem's sake."


	15. Apep's First Test

**A/N: Words cannot express how sorry I am for the slow updating. This isn't on my top list of priorities, but, even so, I should be updating more often than this... Anyway, thanks to the usual reviewers: _Aqua girl 007_, _YamiBakura1988_ and _Kiterious_ (you deserve much better/frequent updates than what I give you, but you guys are so amazing for sticking by me... after all this time) and to my two newer reviewers: _Red Cheshire Queen_ and _SunDrop123_ - actually Sunny's review reminded me to get my sorry behind moving, so you have her to thank for this update!**

**Anyway, enjoy! (And have fun solving Apep's game/puzzle; let's see if anyone gets it before the answer is revealled.)**

**LadyCathy. x**

**ooOoo**

Chapter 15: Apep's First Test

Perhaps he had been expecting something dramatic when he stepped through – a rush of wind, the ground shifting beneath his feet – _something_ to signify that he had just stepped into another realm

Instead, he tripped.

Over what or whether he had tripped over anything at all, Bakura was clueless, since the darkness present in the veil hadn't lifted upon his entrance. If anything, the shadows were deeper – if that were possible – and showed no sign of lightening.

Groaning, he pushed himself back onto his feet. The ground felt coarse beneath his hands – not like the smooth, tiled floor he had stumbled upon on his first visit. He guessed Apep's entrance hall was very different to wherever he chose to entertain his guests. Or victims. Whichever description fitted better.

All the same, he was going to have a difficult time of locating Apep or the Puzzle if he only had this crowding darkness swamping him. He brought one hand to his side and traced a rocky, cave-like wall to his left. So this was some kind of cave.

'_I see Apep isn't bothered about interior design for his front porch,_' Bakura mentally noted, kicking away at a few stones he felt about his feet. '_And I had thought Apep was one for dramatics..._'

At that point, the darkness was split into glorious light, revealing his surroundings to be not the cave he anticipated, but a gleaming corridor.

'_And maybe I was right..._'

This time the ground shifted beneath his feet, and his surroundings shifted to the bright, familiar settings that so echoed the Hall of Two Truths – or what he assumed the hall looked like.

'_Yes. Dramatic_.'

"Well, well, well, I see you finally made it here." Shadows swirled together to form a snake-like figure across the room. It appeared Apep hadn't bothered to change to his human form today.

Bakura grinned and nodded his head towards the golden set of scales. "I see you haven't redecorated since I last came here," he commented.

"Oh, I like it this way." Apep leant back; light this time swirled behind him and forming a glittering throne. His emerald green tail swept around the seat, always writhing and twisting. "It's fun to watch mortals' reactions when they first arrive. Yours was good, but it wasn't the best reaction I've got before now."

Bakura didn't intend to ask.

Apep leant forward, his hands coming together to form a triangle of sorts. His fingers tapped lightly against their respective partners, tapping out a light rhythm. "But you made it here. Finally."

"Well, we would have been faster without the sphinx you set at your front door..."

"Liked that, did you? You know, I wasn't even sure you'd make it past it – perhaps a riddle would be too much of a challenge? – but your companion proved to have a brain in her pretty little head. Thank goodness; watching the sphinx eat you would only be entertaining up to a point."

"Glad to know you're so fond of me," Bakura muttered rebelliously.

"Anyway, you've finally arrived." Apep rested his chin on the tip of his fingers, his tail flicking in a semi-amused fashion – a fashion that Bakura also decided meant he didn't want to mess with the god right now. "Do you know how boring watching your progress was? Chaos above, you mortals are so _slow_!" he whined. "And the conversation! Mortals, you have no head for conversation! Although..." he added slowly, "you are pretty good at the chaos thing."

Bakura frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean – falling for your best friend's fiancée?" Apep released a hissing laugh. "I couldn't have planned it more perfectly! Oh, the chaos that is going to ensue... especially when the young princess – she's a princess, no less! – is falling for you too. Oh, that is going to mess a few things up..."

"I... We're..." Bakura shook his head, aware that he was on the verge of reddening. "That's not why I'm here!"

"Oh, I know why you're here." Making a circling motion in the air, the darkness swirled once again, but this time revealed a familiar, pyramid-shaped item. It hovered idly in the air.

Bakura made a move forward.

Apep snapped his palm shut; the Puzzle disappeared. "Ah, ah, ah. Not so fast. It's not going to be that easy."

"I could've guessed."

"Let's play a game..."

"Let's not."

"If you win, you get the Puzzle and you can do whatever you please with it – sell it, trade it, keep it... return it and rescue your friend's life, whichever appeals more... _but_," Apep deftly continued, "if you lose... the Puzzle is mine." A snake-like grin, all too full of fangs, spread across his face. "Savvy?"

"Don't I even get to know what the game is first?"

"No."

Bakura paused. "I'm not going to get the Puzzle any other way, am I?"

"Of course not. So..." Apep leant forward, grin steadily widening. "You agree?"

"Yes."

Apep rose to his tail. "Excellent..."

The darkness fell upon the room and the ground shifted below Bakura's feet. He fell to his knees, grazing them against a roughened cave floor, and for a moment he thought they had returned to the mortal world. Then the light returned and Bakura discovered he was in the same clean-cut, tiled corridor as before. The ground now felt smooth and tiled beneath him.

"We've just come from the throne room – from the heart of my realm," Apep informed the thief, appearing in his usual manner. "The aim of the game is to find that room again. You can only open one door – that door is your choice. Pick the right door and you'll be skipping out of my realm with the Puzzle in hand. Pick the wrong door, however, and you'll be leaving empty-handed."

"And how am I meant to know which door is the right one if I can't open any except for my final choice?"

"Ah, you are still quick on the draw, I see. Well..." Apep paused, thinking over his words. "Well, let's add a little bit of a riddle to this puzzle. There will be many doors you can choose, but only one will be the one you desire. There are many monsters that are under my control, but only three guardians did you meet along your way. Those three guardians each left a clue behind on how to find my door – find the link, and you're already halfway to the answer you seek."

"Oh, _fabulous_," Bakura muttered. "More vague clues. Would it harm you to use simple language for once?"

"No, but it's much more entertaining this way. And you'd better start looking, thief. You have a door to find." Apep melted into the shadows, only his last comment floating in the air before it, like Apep's shadow, disappeared entirely. "Choose wisely."

Bakura stared at the patch where the shadow had previously been. Now, however, it was swallowed up by the light. In fact, the whole corridor was uncannily bright for a realm ruled by a god of darkness and chaos...

"Madness," he breathed. "Utter madness."

'_Yet you still accepted the challenge_,' his mind reminded him.

"I've nothing to lose at this point," Bakura verbally pointed out. "I lose this challenge, I end up in exactly the same place as I would have done had I declined said challenge. Anyway, got to make an effort after coming this far."

'_For you or for the princess?_'

"Would you just shut up?"

Great. So now he was talking to himself.

Muttering reassuring threats concerning his mutinous mind, Apep and anything else unfortunate enough to get in his way, he started along the corridor. It wasn't long before he came across a door – this one wooden, traditional, boring. He stopped before it and leant one hand against the wooden planks. Halfway up the top half there was an eye symbol carved into the wood.

"The same eye as on the ring," Bakura muttered. He traced his fingers around the engraving, pondering over the door's existence. "This can't be it... The first door I come across would be too... too _easy_. Then again, I wouldn't put it past Apep to bet on my thinking being just that. After all, a thief is a thief... and a thief doesn't trust a situation when it appears to be too easy. Reverse psychology..."

He leant one ear against the wood, listening for any clues on the other side.

"Silent, of course. Apep wouldn't want to end this game _too_ quickly now, would he? Then again, would he make the right door so near the start of the game? Wouldn't that risk the game ending too quickly?"

'_And then there was Apep's clues..._'

The thief audibly scoffed. "Clues? _Please_, they were hardly more than whimsical ramblings of nonsense."

'_At this point, having the princess around doesn't seem like such a bad idea..._'

"Well she's _not_ here, so I'll have to come up with something myself, won't I?" He eyed the door and then stepped away from it. Despite everything, he didn't like the idea of making a choice just yet. Not until he had seen what other options lay before him.

He started down the corridor, keeping his eyes out for another door – there had to be another door, right? There couldn't be only one, otherwise this game would be pointless. So he continued to walk until another door came into sight. This one was grander than its companion; this one was golden and glittering and completely at ease in its surroundings. Again on the top half was an eye symbol engraved into the door.

"Grand, dramatic, ornamental..." Bakura noted idly. "Yes, this looks more like Apep's door." He knocked against it; the sound was as expected. Again, nothing could be heard from the other side. "Again, this could be a trick. It looks almost too obvious...Then again, it's completely at keeping with what the throne room looked like..."

Once again, he found himself wishing that the princess was present to pitch in her comments. She had, after all (and he was partially loath to admit it) been right about finding Apep's entrance and the sphinx's riddle. And this game was more riddle than tactic.

Bakura stepped away, glancing around as if expecting one of the monsters that Apep had mentioned earlier to appear out of the shadows. Or, out of the less-light sections. Once again he noted the bizarre amount of light for Apep's realm. But nothing came for him; he was – as far as he knew – alone. Alone except for the one door before him and the other to his left.

To his left? The thief looked to his side and noticed another door further along the corridor he hadn't explored yet – this one was wooden.

And identical to the previous wooden one.

"Now I _know_ Apep's messing with me..."

Bakura inspected the duplicated door, running his hand across the surface as if needing confirmation that it was really there. The wood splintered slightly at his touch, but it was definitely very real. Too real, for his liking, for he was almost certain that the previous wooden door hadn't been near a golden one before – and the very presence of the wooden door implied he had gone round in a circle.

Muttering to himself, Bakura set off along the corridor, ignoring both doors. Less than a minute later and he was passing another golden door, then another wooden one, then a golden one again. The same two doors, at different intervals and distance, kept cropping back up. Bakura eventually brought himself to a halt.

'_Well I'm not going to play to Apep's games anymore..._'

He checked his belt and found that Apep had left him with a small dagger this time. Not anything nearly good enough to defend himself if some monster came rambling down the corridor, but better than nothing. Instead of baring it before him in preparation for such an incident, however, he brought it up to the wooden door and carved a rather messy 'X' through the eye. He approached a nearby golden door and – with difficulty – engraved a similar sign.

'_At least this way I'll know whether I am going round in circles,_' his mind noted with satisfaction. The dagger was stowed away and he continued along the corridor.

The next door was wooden.

And had an 'X' carved through it.

Bakura growled and upped his pace. The doors came at a more frequent occurrence than before, and all bore the mark he had left on the first two. There was no denying the fact that the same two doors were his only choices and that sooner or later he'd have to pick one. The doors kept reappearing, but they were never in exactly the same place as before – almost as if they were moving – as if they were following him. Bakura eventually came to a stop when both doors were before him – the gold to his right, the wood to his left.

He had a one-in-two chance.

His attention flicked between the two. Two doors. Really, it made things simpler in a way. He glanced at the right, and then at the left. Or maybe it left it harder. Maybe it would have been simpler if there had been hundreds of doors to choose from – maybe that way logic would have been easier to apply, maybe the clues would have made more sense.

Each of the guardians had left a clue, according to Apep.

There had been the cockatrice – the snake, the creature you couldn't meet the gaze of without becoming stone. Without, in a way, dying. How could you even battle something like that?

There had been the harpies – the bird-women with feathers that could not be pierced and their eerie fascination with death and their gruesome bloodthirsty view of life.

And then there had been the sphinx – the not-lion-sphinx-but-a-spider-sphinx that had given them a puzzle to solve – the puzzle that Mana had solved – and had made death the punishment for failure. He guessed he owed Mana his life for that.

Where was the link?

'_Come on, __**think**__ Bakura. There has to be something that will make this easier..._'

The two doors remained impassive.

All three were guardians. All three were very capable of killing him. All three had promised death, one way or another. In fact, two out of three were very fascinated with the idea of death. Was that it? The cockatrice maybe wasn't – but then, it was a snake and Bakura hadn't really taken the chance to talk to it, so how was he meant to know?

"Death? Is that the link?" he mused aloud. "But how does that help me?"

Gold or wood – which was linked to death?

Wood rotted – wood died, wood gave way to death just like anything else that had once lived. The wood that made up the door itself was dead already.

Gold rusted. That wasn't dying. But gold was important, both for the dead and the living. Gold ensured a man a comfy life. Gold was what the scales in the Hall of Two Truths was made from – the scales that would dictate the truth of a man's heart and what the afterlife held for them. Surely that was linked to death? That was the ultimate decider?

He hesitated between the two, torn between the two bouts of logic.

'_One-in-two chance, right? The odds couldn't be any more in my favour_.'

Bakura grinned to himself. "I'll take a gamble. It's what I'm best at."

Without thinking, he let his hand grasp the handle of one of the two doors. He blinked. Registered the door. It was the golden one.

He opened the door.

"I guess you still can't resist the lull of gold, can you?" In the shadows of the door, in the black abyss where the room would be, Apep appeared looming with all his snake-likeness. "Even after everything you've gone through, you still judge a book by its covers, you still can't help but see the glittering exterior. You are still so easily fooled by the illusion of appearance."

He grinned.

"And you lose."


	16. A Deal with Darkness

Chapter 16: A Deal with Darkness

Little time – if any – had passed from when Bakura had entered. Perhaps time flowed differently in Apep's realm. Perhaps he had been immediately kicked out upon entering. Whatever the case, only seconds after the thief entered was he suddenly thrown back out. Mana stepped back for a moment, shocked at his unexpected exit, before rushing forward and kneeling by his side.

A quick glance informed her he was well and truly unconsciousness. Unhurt, she was relieved to see, but not about to wake just yet. She also could see that the Puzzle was nowhere to be seen.

'_So... he failed to get it?_'

She felt uneasy. Sick.

'_After all that... After everything we've been through... it was all for nothing?_'

Did that mean they now had a choice? That Bakura had a choice? That now it was a choice of who should die – the thief or the prince? Bakura or Atem?

Mana's attention flickered to the rippling surface of the entrance to Apep's realm. She had promised she would stay there until Bakura got back...

She blinked. '_Well, Bakura __**is**__ back, so..._'

So she could enter without breaking her promise.

She checked Bakura one more time, reassuring herself that he was merely unconscious and not anything worse. His breathing was steady and his pulse was firm, so she rose to her feet with more confidence than she felt. She approached the blackened veil. Watched the inky darkness ripple at her approach.

'_Ra, do I come up with some crazy schemes sometimes..._'

She closed her eyes and stepped through the veil...

And, like her predecessor, tripped.

"Ra-dammit!"

"Well, how unladylike." An unfamiliar voice scoffed in the darkness; Mana felt the ground shift beneath her. When she next opened her eyes, she discovered that she was kneeling in a hall-like room, glittering, gleaming around her. And, across said room, was a man in an emerald-coloured suit. It was from this individual that the comment had come from. "And I thought princesses were meant to be mild-mannered."

"Oh yeah? And how many princesses have you met?" Mana snapped. She uneasily rose to her feet.

"A fair few in my time." The man walked over and offered a hand. Mana ignored him and pushed herself up by herself. The stranger seemed unbothered by this, withdrawing his proffered hand apathetically. "Princess Mana, I assume?"

"The very same." Mana stood at her full height; even then she still had to look up to meet his gaze. "And you must be Apep."

"God of Darkness and Chaos, at your service." Grinning, the man gave a bow – Mana couldn't be sure whether it was mocking or not. "I wasn't expecting your arrival, but now you're here..." He leant back, and in doing so a chair materialised behind him. Perhaps throne would have been a better description. "Well, now you're here, we might as well get to the bottom of this matter. What are you here for?"

Mana marched up to the young-looking man, not caring whatever status he held. "I'm coming here to deal with the matter of the Millennium Puzzle."

"Ah, that." He still appeared indifferent at her attitude.

"Yes, _that_. Bakura entered with the purpose of reclaiming it and he exited empty-handed."

Apep shrugged. "We made a deal. He failed the task set and therefore he reaped the benefits. Which were none. Well, he's alive, isn't he?" A serpent-like grin slipped across his face. "You're lucky the penalty for losing the game wasn't anything more... permanent. Death... loss of soul... both quite reasonable penalties, if you ask me..."

Mana struggled for a reply for several stuttering seconds. "Look... Look," she repeated with stronger conviction, "I came here for the Puzzle..."

"I know."

"And I plan on doing just that!"

Apep grinned and leant forward, something serpentine slipping into his grin for a second. "For who, princess? Yourself? The prince? The _thief_?"

"Why would you care?" she hissed.

"Oh, I think the question is, why do _you_ care?"

"If Bakura goes back without the Puzzle–"

"Ah, now _that_ is the issue, isn't it? _If_ Bakura goes back..."

"What are you saying?"

"All I'm doing is pointing out the obvious. And I'm making you question." Apep leant back, tucking one foot idly beneath the other, like some pompous businessman. "If Bakura had returned with the Puzzle, everything would have been fine and dandy and you could have dragged him back to the city knowing that both the prince and the thief would survive. But now you're left with a choice. Atem... or Bakura...? Who would you choose to live?"

"It's... It's not _my_ choice! It's Bakura's!"

"Oh, come, come; don't be so naive. Push-come-to-shove, you can always persuade the thief to return."

"He doesn't need my persuasion."

"Really? The thief wouldn't have even come this far without your persuasion prodding him along. What makes you think he would return to take his punishment freely?"

"Atem is his friend!"

"And yet he still nearly ran out on him."

Mana began to snap something back at him, but she hesitated.

"_...right now, I don't know whether I would return to take my punishment or whether I would run..._"

Hadn't Bakura admitted that?

"He's changed," she insisted quietly.

Apep only laughed. "Changed? He'll never change. He'll always be the same black-hearted thief that you first met and nothing – not even you, princess – can alter that. So perhaps you better make your decision now – are you going to drag Bakura back to the city or are you going to let him go free? From here on in you cannot save both Atem and Bakura. A choice must be made."

"He'll go back."

Apep regarded the young, hot-headed princess standing before him. "You really believe that, don't you?"

"I always have."

"Fine. Then let's put that to the test." He rose gracefully to his feet. "If Bakura returns to take his punishment, I will return the Puzzle. _However_, I will not guarantee that I will do so in time to save the thief. You cannot tell the thief what to do, neither can you tell him of our little deal. He will have to make the choice himself – his life for Atem's. Deal?"

Mana hesitated.

"Come on; if you're all so confident in the thief, why not show it? Or are you afraid you'll lose him? Is that it? When it comes down to it, you're not sure who you'd rather lose – Atem or Bakura?"

"Alright! Alright! I'll take the deal. But you better turn up in time."

"No promises."

"No–"

"No promises..."

The room faded into darkness and Mana suddenly found herself stumbling in the familiar, dimly-lit cavern. The shrine returned to surround her as she was fumbling out of the portal, bringing herself to an abrupt stop as she grabbed the side of the sarcophagus for support. She sunk slowly to the ground, still breathing hard.

'_What... did I just agree to?_'

**ooOoo**

**A/N: Short chapter today, I know... but hopefully that'll give you hope that not all is lost. And to prove that, no, I haven't died and, no, this story isn't on hiatus, I merely am... a bumbling air-head. But I am the bumbling air-head who's writing this story and has a few tricks up her sleeve. Thanks for all the reviews, don't forget to put an alias/penname down if you're a guest (or merely a lazy, unlogged-in member) and thanks to my usual cast of reviewers: _Aqua girl 007_, _YamiBakura1988_ and _SunDrop123_ for being the amazing, inspiring reviewers they are and reviewing for the last chapter.**

**LadyCathy. x**


	17. The Way Home

Chapter 17: The Way Home

Bakura decided he was sick of unexpected trips into the realm of unconsciousness. They never spelled out a good awakening. When he awoke this time, at least he was no longer in Apep's Realm. He was in Apep's shrine still, so that wasn't much of an improvement, but it was an improvement of sorts.

He had a headache though.

"Bakura? Good. You're finally coming to."

He blinked and groggily focused on the face before him floating into definition. Relief flooded over the young brunette's face as he unsteadily pushed himself to his feet. "Apparently. How long have I been out?"

Mana hesitated. "Not long, I think." Before Bakura could question her doubt, she was helping him up and moving him in the direction of the exit. "Anyway, we should get going before the sphinx comes back." She grabbed the torch from the side, which had gone out a while back, and let Bakura light it. Upon the flames gaining strength, she found the entrance route they had initially used.

"Do we have to take it so fast?"

"Unless you'd like to be spider-sushi, yes."

"Okay. I'm fine with this pace."

They did, however, slow once they reached the more analogous-styled cavernous passageways. Both were lost in their own thoughts. Neither wanted to open up about what had happened in Apep's realm – not that Mana planned on informing Bakura of her impromptu trip anyway – and so the silence stretched out. Mana became slowly aware though that the echoing pair of footsteps behind her had stopped. She paused, turned in the passageway and looked to her companion. "Bakura?"

He was standing quietly a few yards away from Mana, the flickering firelight only lighting half his face. The rest was in angled shadow. He leant against the wall, but in a motion that suggested it was required for support rather than for attitude. He looked up to Mana, a flickering, wan smile slipping bitterly across his face.

"I failed, princess."

"What?"

"The Puzzle." He looked physically sick. Embarrassed. Shamed. "I had the chance to get it back – to make everything right for once. And I failed."

Taken aback by the thief's uncannily serious tone, Mana lowered the torch and hesitantly stepped forward. "No–"

"I had the opportunity to get the Millennium Puzzle back... and I let my own greed get the better of me. I haven't changed at all. I still judged by appearances..."

"You _have_ changed," Mana insisted.

Bakura met her gaze. "Not enough, it seems."

"Who are you to make that judgement?"

"My actions made that judgement. _I'm_ making that judgement." His fist moved to beat against the wall, and then stopped as if thinking better of it. Instead his hand flattened out across the wall, leaning against it in a fashion that indicated stress. His gaze flickered down to the darkened, uneven stone floor, tension lining his every word. "And now I don't know what to do. I can't walk away from this business anymore."

"You can't bring yourself to abandon Atem?"

"I can't." His breathing was becoming uneven just at the thought of the two courses of action he had left. "But..." He looked back to Mana and this time there was fear. "But I don't want to die."

"I can't help you make that decision," Mana whispered. "I'm sorry."

"I guess you want me to do the noble thing?"

Mana struggled to keep her expression vaguely calm, but her indecision still leaked out to her face and response. "And do what, Bakura? Return to take the punishment for a crime you're innocent for?"

"Am I innocent? You said yourself–"

"I said many things."

"From here on in, it's either my life or Atem's–"

"I won't choose who should die."

"But that's what it comes down to, isn't it?" Bakura insisted. "One of us is going to die. And I have to make that choice. My life or my friend's. And I don't know what to do."

"You don't have to make that decision now."

"But I do–"

"We have at least fifteen days to return to the capital. Once at the capital, you can make the decision to take Atem's place or not." Mana's voice was bordering on hoarse. She couldn't meet Bakura's gaze. "I'm sorry, Bakura."

"You're not the one who should be sorry."

Mana opened her mouth, perhaps to debate that, but closed it after a moment's hesitation. She sighed, looked back the way to the exit, and then back to Bakura as if assessing whether to press on. Her grip shifted slightly on the burning torch nervously. "I'm still sorry." She turned around and headed along the unchanging stone corridor, searching for any speck of light that would indicate the exit. Bakura walked behind her, caught up in his own thoughts once again. Eventually he broke the silence.

"Princess?"

"Couldn't you at least call me Mana by now?"

She heard the faint smile creep in with his next sentence. "Never." The smile slipped out again as quickly as it'd come. "If... If I were to... to run instead of take the punishment... what would you do?"

Mana stopped. Turned to face Bakura with a sad sort of smile. "I don't want you to die, Bakura," she murmured. "And I don't know if I could lay down my life for a friend either..."

"But if I were to run?" Bakura pressed. "Would you stop me?"

"Don't ask me that. Please."

"Please answer my question."

Mana shook her head fretfully. "I... don't know. But... I don't think my heart would let me stop you. I think I would respect whatever decision you made. I hope I would. Perhaps because it would be too painful to intercede into whatever choice you made." She leant forward, left a quick kiss on his lips. "I trust you."

Bakura chuckled darkly. "Then you are just as stupid as Atem."

Mana attempted a half-hearted smile. "I thought you had already come to that conclusion."

ooOoo

"You still fight like a girl, princess!"

"That's probably because I _am_ a girl!"

"It's not a compliment!"

"Oh, I worked that much out already!" Mana brought her stick – for Bakura had deemed a sharpened blade probably too dangerous to practise with at this stage – at her opponent, which Bakura sidestepped easily. Smirking at the clumsy miss, Bakura used his weapon – another stick – to bring Mana to the ground by smacking the back of her knees.

"Still much too impulsive. You'll never be able to hold your own in a fight at this rate."

Mana grunted in her usual unladylike fashion and gingerly rose to her feet. Their journey back to the capital was almost complete, but there were still a good couple of days left of travelling. In the recent bout of travelling, Bakura had offered to teach Mana some proper defensive skills, perhaps as a way to productively pass the time between the journeying – and to take their minds off the inevitable. Some of the other thieves had also put in a few helpful lessons; Mana's favourite being the archery lessons Rishid had offered – purely for the fact she had discovered a talent there.

"As a princess, I usually have other people to fight for me," Mana reminded him.

"Yeah, but do you really want to leave your safety up to other people? Now, let's try again."

"Again?"

"Yes, again."

"I think I've eaten quite enough dirt for today, don't you?" Mana was still quite a way away from defeating Bakura in any sort of fair fight – some of the other thieves had been insisting that she was making progress, but Bakura hadn't offered that sort of reassurance. She suspected it was because there wasn't any progress for him to comment on.

"You want to give in, that's fine by me."

"I didn't say I was giving in..."

Bakura shrugged, grinning at his opponent. "Were you not? Strange; that's what it sounded like to me."

"You wouldn't be so cocky if it were an archery contest–"

"But it's not, and so I am."

Mana grumbled under her breath, but carefully bared her weapon before her in preparation for Bakura's next attack. "Alright. But after the next round I'm calling it a day. I ache and the light's almost gone."

Unsurprisingly, the next round ended in Mana's defeat.

Again.

"Help me up, idiot," Mana grumbled, once again finding herself on the ground. She took the offered hand and unsteadily rose to her feet. "You know, I'm beginning to feel like you're not actually teaching me anything; you're just finding this funny."

"I think you're being slightly pessimistic."

Mana laughed breathlessly and began to head back to her tent. "Perhaps I am. Well, see you lot tomorrow."

Bakura found himself smiling quietly as he watched the brunette retreat to her tent; recently he had found her presence surprisingly calming. The stick that had served as a mock-blade was tossed to the side, at which point he drifted to the outer region of the makeshift campsite. A few minutes passed before some familiar shadows wandered over to accompany him. Two shadows, to be precise.

"Evening, Marik. Rishid."

"Good evening, Bakura."

Marik only half-grunted a greeting in comparison to Rishid's.

"The two of you have been quiet recently."

"Not as quiet as yourself."

"What's happening, Bakura?" Marik demanded. He didn't go for any of Rishid's tact; if he wanted to know something he might as well ask it straight out was his philosophy. "You come back from Apep's shrine, with no Puzzle and no explanation–"

"What I think Marik wants to know – as do I –" Rishid calmly interceded, "is what happened in that cave and what's the plan of action now?"

"You want to know what happened?" Bakura muttered. He turned away from his two friends. "Alright, I'll tell you. I messed up." A smooth, rounded pebble was picked off the ground. Their journeying today had taken them through a forested realm, making the ground rough and uneven beneath their feet. "Is that what you wanted to hear? You wanted to hear what had happened, after all," he added, perhaps more viciously than required.

"The Puzzle?"

"Still with Apep." In the same action he had indulged in earlier in their travels – when they had been travelling towards their goal rather than away from it – he threw the stone as far as it could go. It didn't make it very far before its route was blocked by a tree. It fell to the ground, the noise strangely muffled in the blanketing atmosphere of the forest. It irritated him. He wanted the sound to be more prominent than that.

"And we're still going back?" Marik cried.

Another stone was picked off the ground in preparation to follow the same fate as its comrade. He paused though this time. "I don't know," Bakura said honestly. "Maybe. Maybe not."

"Are you mad?" Marik rounded on his companion. "Do you want to die?"

"Atem will die if I don't."

"And you'll die if you do."

"You think I haven't already worked that one out? I don't want to run this time, but I don't know whether I can bring myself to face it."

"Then _don't_," Marik insisted. "Run. You said yourself that the king wouldn't let his son die... Run to live another day. It's what you do. It's the kind of person you are."

"Perhaps I don't want to be that person anymore!"

Rishid placed a restraining hand on Marik's shoulder. "Leave it. It's his decision." Rishid gave a respectful nod to Bakura. "We will honour whatever decision you make."

Bakura wasn't sure whether he was relieved or uncertain by this promise. Part of him wanted his companions to wade in and stop him doing anything stupid. More stupid than usual anyway. Like saving his butt if he took the blow; perhaps even knocking some sense into him. But he just returned the nod with a sigh. "Thank you, Rishid." He began to walk back to camp, suddenly exhausted by everything.

At this point, Marik shrugged Rishid off with a glower. Upon turning to Bakura though, a lighter expression had fallen across his features. "We won't think any less of you, whichever choice you make," he said. He lifted his hands to his mouth and shouted, "Unless you get yourself killed. That would be pretty stupid!"

Bakura chuckled humourlessly and waved behind him to his two friends. "I'll try my best not to."

ooOoo

Mana could hear the conversation from the interior of her tent. She guessed the thieves had forgotten just how badly soundproofed tent material was, for they made no attempt to lower their voices. She heard Bakura's outburst, quickly followed by the sound of his retreat into the interior of the campsite. Rishid and Marik, however, didn't leave so soon.

"He's lost it."

Mana could almost hear Rishid rolling his eyes with the next sentence. "Marik, I don't think you're in any position to pass judgement. It's his choice."

"So you keep saying." Marik's tune, in comparison to Rishid's, was moody, almost childlike. Like a child who was being told for the first time that life wasn't fair. "But we're his friends. Shouldn't we be trying to help him?"

"We are."

"How are we? By letting him walk to his death?"

"If we are his friends then we'll respect his decision," Rishid quietly reprimanded. "If he feels he needs to do this, we should support him."

"Yeah, but I don't know whether he does want to do this," Marik muttered. Mana heard the sound of him taking a seat on the uneven ground. "Right now, it's like anything we say could easily swing him from one option to the other."

After a moment, Rishid was heard to sit beside his friend. "I know. And that's why we should stand back for the moment. So he can make his own decision. Anything we say or do could topple the balance."

"You know why he's acting this way, don't you?"

Rishid took several seconds to reply. "I'm sure I don't know what you're implying."

"I'm sure you do."

"I'm sure I don't," Rishid repeated.

"The princess," Marik answered.

"Please, I think you're overanalysing the situation..."

"Can you think of any other explanation? A month ago this issue would never have arisen because Bakura wouldn't have even _thought_ of returning to take the prince's place. But now... it's like he has something to prove..."

"Is that really such a bad change?" Rishid asked gently.

"It is when it's going to kill him."

"Then what do you suggest we do, Marik? Tell him to abandon his friend? Leave him with guilt for the rest of his life? He _has_ changed, Marik, and we have to accept that. You may not like the fact that we may lose him, but you should respect that he feels he has to do this."

"I still think the princess has changed him."

"Maybe." Mana heard Rishid rise to his feet and walk back to the interior of the camp. "But it's none of our business."

ooOoo

The days passed quicker now and before Mana could appreciate the time slipping through her fingers, they were returning to the inn that the thieves had gathered in the day Bakura's raid had gone awry. The last day was tomorrow – Bakura had one last day left to decide. He was taking a risk being in the city at all – people tended to take note of his unique appearance, but with the addition of a cloak barely any passing strangers spared him a second glance. But even that day finally came to a close.

As the other thieves talked and laughed loudly – almost as if they could chase away all thoughts of tomorrow – Mana spotted a familiar figure slipping out of the inn. She placed her glass to the side and quietly followed suit.

The inn rested on the edge of the city – that was one of the reasons Bakura's gang liked to stop there; they could escape to the open desert in a pinch – and it was to this open, untamed land that Bakura had drifted to. He stopped before the walk back to the inn became a trek and Mana nervously stopped beside him.

"You know, if that's your stealth mode then you need lessons."

"Thanks," Mana replied flatly. She was partially reassured by his banter; everything almost felt normal. She was surprised by that. When had Bakura become her normality? "And I was coming out here to offer any support you needed. Although, being the thief king you are, I doubt you need support."

"Of course I don't."

"Of course," she echoed. Mana looked before her, where the sun was slowly sinking over the rolling dunes, casting its golden light over the still sands."You were right, by the way."

"I'm always right," he automatically replied. "What about?"

Mana sat down on the cooling sand, watching the sky ahead. "About the sunset over the desert. It really is beautiful."

Bakura looked to the princess and then, following several moments of hesitation, sat down beside her. "I guess you'll be seeing more of them if you marry Atem," he eventually offered.

Mana couldn't instantly reply; Bakura's comment had confused her. She couldn't tell whether he was implying he planned to take Atem's place tomorrow or not, or even if there was another meaning layered beneath his words. Like there was a regret hidden between the lines. She didn't want to say anything that would mean she had misunderstood his words or whatever meaning lay hidden behind them.

Bakura watched her expressions, the various emotions flickering over the brunette's face only telling him that she was struggling to respond. "I guess..." He shook his head. "Nothing."

"What?"

"No, it's nothing."

"Tell me. Please."

"It's just..." For a moment, in the glowing red of the sunlight, Bakura looked on the verge of embarrassment. It passed though. "If Atem was the one to live, and I the one to die, would you still marry him?"

Mana bit back a laugh. "What does that mean?"

"Nothing. I just thought..." He scoffed and uneasily rested his chin on his knee, with one leg leaning against him and the other stretched lazily out.

"You just thought what?"

Bakura tilted his head to look at the woman to his side. "You've changed since you first joined us. Before you were... headstrong, naive and a little too full of yourself at times..."

Mana snorted. "Thanks. And now?"

"Still headstrong, naive and a little too full of yourself at times," Bakura clarified. He chuckled at Mana's disgruntled expression. "But you've tasted adventure now. And, whether you want to admit it or not, you enjoyed it." He moved his head up, taking his chin off his knee to regard Mana fully. "Really, princess, do you think you can be happy living the rest of your life cooped up within a cage?"

"I would be in a palace."

"A gilded cage then. Because that's the life you'd be resigning yourself to if you married Atem."

Mana scoffed and looked away. She looked uncomfortable though. "You speak as if I have a choice."

"You do."

"No I don't," she snapped. "We've discussed this before, and I've told you that I can't abandon everyone. I have expectations to live up to, I have to bring our kingdoms together through our marriage."

"Even if it means giving up your own happiness."

"I expect Atem and I will get along fine," Mana muttered, almost sulkily. "We were doing so before you decided to break in and get yourself caught. If you hadn't come along..."

"Then none of us would be in this mess, I know." He hesitated, watching Mana carefully. The beginnings of resignation were flickering across his features. "You really are that noble, aren't you?" he asked softly. "You really want to do the right thing. I guess not even adventure could shake that notion out of your head."

"I just want to do what's best for everyone," Mana replied quietly.

Bakura sighed, digging his hands into the sand behind him so he could lean back to watch the disappearing sunset. "Alright. Alright, I'll... I'll stop questioning you now. I guess neither of us are in a position to judge the other. Who knows? If I'd been stuck in a palace all my life, perhaps I'd be as noble as you or Atem."

Mana contemplated this for barely a second before giving a short laugh. "I doubt it, Bakura. You would've been one of those royalty that had to have the wildness beaten out of them. Anyway," she added, grinning his way, "I think you're okay the way you are. Perhaps with a few lessons in manners added," she offered after a moment.

"Manners are overrated."

"Hardly."

The sun was only a sliver of golden light on the horizon now, glittering hesitantly as it slipped further away with each passing second. They watched it silence together, trying not to think about tomorrow and the inevitable sorrow it would bring, whichever decision Bakura made.

"I'll still miss the sunsets at home," Mana eventually murmured. When Bakura looked to her, she added, "Assuming I'm staying here, I mean."

'_Assuming you take Atem's place_,' was the unspoken meaning.

"What about the sunrise?" Bakura asked dryly. "Wouldn't you miss that too? Or do you prefer the sunset?"

"I think I've always preferred the sunset."

"Why?"

"Why?" Mana echoed the question, her eyes angling in thought as she considered the question. "I don't know; I've never really thought about it before. I guess it's because I was awake to see it more often than the sunrise, maybe? I always thought the sunset was much more colourful than the sunrise – you had all those reds and purples and oranges... Why? What about you? Sunrise or sunset?"

"Sunrise."

"That...surprises me."

Bakura grinned, although the action was less mischievous than usual. "Always the tone of surprise. It's just..." He paused, sitting up to meet Mana's gaze. "Sunsets are always so final, always bringing the day to an end. It's like...you've lost another day. And you can never get it back. Another day's come and gone and what have you made of it? What difference have you done? When all is said and done, is it really all worth it? But sunrises? They promise a new day."

"I...hadn't thought of it like that..."

"No, you hadn't." The silence stretched out in the conversation until Bakura finally spoke again. "You know when people say live life like today is your last day?"

Mana nodded. "Yes."

"Well, how do you spend your last day?"

"With loved ones."

"What is a thief with no family to do then?"

Mana looked down at her hands, tracing a loose circle in the sand with her fingers. "I don't know. Maybe spend it with friends. You have friends – Rishid and Marik and that lot. They do worry for you too. They _are_ worrying for you."

"Do you include yourself in that friend list?"

Mana laughed. "I thought I was part of the pain-in-the-neck list."

"I think you've saved my life enough times to be promoted to the accomplice list."

"Why, thank you." Mana leant against Bakura's shoulder as the last of the sun's rays disappeared over the horizon, trying not to think that this may be the thief's last day. "And...thank you...for the past month."

Bakura chuckled, but it was softened as if he were afraid that he might dislodge Mana from his shoulder if he weren't careful. "For what? I've dragged you through the desert, past harpies and cockatrices and giant spiders and nearly got you killed too many times to recount... You have no need to thank me."

Mana smiled gently to herself. "But you were right about me. I enjoyed all that adventure and...I don't know how I'm going to manage spending the rest of my life in pampered comfort. But at least you gave me the opportunity to escape past my palace walls, even if it were for only a month. You made a difference, even if it was only for one person. Is that enough though?"

Bakura looked to the princess at his side. "Yes, I'd think so."

**ooOoo**

**A/N: And... that's my way of an apology for the time lapse and the dismally short chapter last time. I am so, so, SO sorry for taking this long. I've had uni starting up, and leaving my friends (sob) and now I've taken up NaNoWriMo so my life has become stupidly busy, but I still should have kept going with this. Despite my lapse, I still intend on finishing this story. Even if it takes another year. (Ra, I hope not...)**

**There's also going to be a couple of virtual cookies going out in this and the next chapter – the first goes to whoever guesses correctly how the next scene/chapter is going to pan out. There's a specific detail I'm looking for, so simply guessing that Apep will or won't appear won't cut it. **

**A virtual cookie (or whole packet) goes to SunDrop123 for nudging me back into this. Your PM was just what I needed to get me going again!**

**LadyCathy. x**


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